Realm Runners

Cliff and Sam make their way over to the Temple of Amanator. Sam sits down quietly in the back as the monk heads towards a large relief of a Golden Sun to explore his new found faith. An elder of Amanator greets him as he approaches the altar. Cliff asks for information attempts to express what he is going through and calls into question his punching of Undead in the eye of the golden sun. The elder, named Alfaeus, reccomends punching whatever his heart tells him to punch, and offers him time alone to meditate.

Everything in the temple begins to shine with a divine light. Cliff feels an overwhelming sense of love and protection. The large Golden Sun relief of Amanator mounted on the wall before him shatters and opens, becoming a window to another place…

He can see a volcano erupting, then a forest edge at dusk, the bodies of Eladrin and Elven warriors lie among the remains of undead. A bell rings out in the night, and an army of skeletal dwarves charge forward across a field.

The Temple of Amanator begins to burn up around him. It’s walls crumble away, to reveal a burning Neverwinter. A screeching wail can be heard above, the silhouette of a Dracolich beats it’s wings amongst the billowing smoke.

The temple returns as it was, the sun reforms, and the divine light returns to the light of dawn.

Cliff stands as the vision fades and his Tattoo reforms into a new design. The elder returns with a scroll of information about Amanator. He thanks Elder Alfaeus and leaves quickly with Sam, telling him what he just experienced. They make their way back to the Golden Griffon.

Worm Delivery

As Mentathenis, and the others are getting back to the Inn, Terrlen greets him warmly after having missed his return. He tells the Eladrin that he met Lex Broadbarn last night while drinking at the Gullhouse and the halfling has been waiting for him to pick up the worm that Saranine requested, delivered by Trysta Riversong.

Mentathenis, Aces, Fanidea and Megilwath head to the western cliffs to the site of the fairgrounds of Neverwinter. As they approach, they can see four wagons, two of which are large cages, one piled with rocks. and one is an ornate carriage. One of the cages is covered and one holds a large Dire Deer. They make their way past the two guards and enter into Lex Broadbarn’s office cart.

The Halfling Entertainment King greets Mentathenis, and the two briefly talk about his Faire, Mentathenis’ father, and their adventures together. He informs Mentathenis that Trysta left to help fight against the Netherese in Neverwinter Wood after dropping the creature off. The worm will respond to the name “Gyre” and consumes rocks and any other organic thing placed in front of it.

They thank the halfling and say their farewells. The three head out to inspect the worm as the remaining Broadbarn Faire wagons pull away from Neverwinter. Fanidea has heard tale of Drow Priestess’ in the underdark controlling purple worms with certain magical items, but she is unsure what exactly is required to do it properly.

As they feed it rocks and try to figure out ways to get the worm to dig where they need it, the ground rumbles beneath their feet. In the distance, to the north east, a red orange glow blasts smoke into the sky. Moments later, a concussive blast rips across the city. Mount Hotenow has erupted, and the Dracolich Aurgloroasa can be seen in the skies above the volcano.

Aces’ Gamble

After regrouping at the Golden Griffon and hearing about Cliff’s vision, including Aurgloroasa, her dwarven army of Thunderholm, and the possible fate of Neverwinter. Aces invites Megilwath to help her free Valindra Shadowmantle from the dungeon. When asked why by Fanidea and Sam, the mul admits she believes the only way to defeat an army of such size is to free Valindra and make allies of the Thayan Undead Empire.

Fanidea goes with them, unwilling to let Megilwath out of her sight, at the behest of Aces who would have rather relied on stealth. They pass the guards with ease and head down into the dungeon, making their way to the bottom and into Valindra’s cell. The Lich, now returned to her Eladrin form, is suprised to see them again. Aces attempts to make amends for the misunderstanding of her motives and offers the Lich back her rings. She also offers the bones of the remaining Neverwinter Nine if they can speak to her boss, the Red Wizard Szass Tam.

Valindra agrees and opens a portal between the dungeon cell and another room. Through the portal, Aces, Megilwath and Fanidea can see into a command room packed with undead. The Red Wizard sits on a raised throne in the center of the room, overseeing. Aces stands for a long while staring through the portal, questioning her decision to take this path. Finally she steps through and Valindra motions for her to speak with Szass Tam.

After talking things through with the Thayan command, and turning over the powdered bones of the Nine, Szass Tam agrees to protect Neverwinter and it’s mortal citizens from the encroaching Shadovar and their allies. Satisfied with the outcome of the tenuous meeting, Aces, Fanidea and Megilwath step back through the portal. On their way out of the dungeon, they pretend that Valindra has escaped her cell due to negligence of security on the part of the Neverwinter Guard.

Securing a Vessel

As Cliff, Ehd and Sam watch over Gyre; Aces, and Mentathenis return to the docks near the Gullhouse and talk to Gregor Faringray about chartering the Tombstone for their journey into the trackless sea in the hunt for the Island that Saranine believes may hold the key to the locations of the other wraith blade shards.

The old sailor tells them that it of great risk to sail into the Trackless Sea this time of year. The weather is a danger and to stock a ship for that kind of journey and for that many is highly expensive, beyond loading a giant worm and it’s pile of rocks. Not to mention the possibility of piracy, or disease, or sea monsters…It would be irresponsible. The passengers, his crew and sons, could end up paying with their lives. He reminds Aces that the Tombstone is old, and is not a fast ship.

Despite this Aces and Mentathenis convince Gregor to rig the ship for such a journey at the cost of 7,500 gold, and the party begins to move their cargo onto the ship.

Scouting

Sam, upset by being left out of the decision to suddenly place their trust in Thay, asks Lythannis, Mentathenis and Modreg to mount up on Celestine to scout the woods to see if there is a better way to protect Neverwinter besides placing it in the hands of another undead army.

The three fly out over the woods and see the Elves and Eladrin still cleaning up Xinlenal’s remaining forces. As they fly closer to Mount Hotenow, they can see the army of the Thunderpeaks assembling. They spot thousands of undead dwarves, hounds and Minotaurs.

They keep their distance and head back hastily when a draconic scream can be heard.

They return to Neverwinter and tell the others what they would be up against. Knowing the enemies numbers, the heroes decide to stay through the night and be the city’s last line of defense if the Thayan lines are broken.

Battle of the Never

In the evening, no dwarves make their way across the fields towards the city, though a Blazing fire spreads through Neverwinter Wood as the sounds of thunderholm catapults lay siege to unseen armies. Green arcane flashes and explosions can be seen and heard well into the night. By the next dawn, Neverwinter, and all it’s guardsmen still stand at post without a scratch. Aurgloroasa is nowhere to be seen. It appears that Aces’ deal with The Thayan Empire has paid off.

Aces, Cliff, Ehd, Megilwath, Fanidea and Modreg inspect the green flashing ring on Valindra’s finger. Fanidea notices a fingerprint on top of the inlaid gem and Ehd takes the unconscious lich’s finger and swipes it across the green gem. They hear a raspy voice emanating from within the ring.

“Valindra! Where are you? The Shadovar are overrunning the elves of Neverwinter Wood! A legion of undead dwarves have come down from mount Hotenow. The time to attack is now! We need the remaining six! Valindra? Valindra!”

Thinking quickly, Fanidea puts on a deathly voice and pretends to be the lich.

Through conversation, the party discovers they are talking to a female named Caikrek at the Thayan High Enclave Command, overseen by the Red Wizard Szass Tam. Cliff and Ehd pretend to be “New friends and employers” of Valindra, and offer resignation on behalf of her to end her employment by the Thayan Empire. When Szass Tam asks for reason, they swipe off the Thayan linking ring.

They decide to wake Valindra to tell her the news that she’s been terminated by the Enclave and attempt to get further information out of her by threatening to cut out her tongue, chop off her arms and legs and stick her in a box for eternity. They learn about the Thayan Empire, their history of being slavers, and the Red Wizards being Undead and Necromantic. She is also forced to cough up her plans to ressurect the Neverwinter Nine to fight for the empire.

They knock her out once more, and Cliff throws her unconscious, undead corpse over his shoulder and they set off into the Tomb to locate the burials of the remaining Neverwinter Nine.

Seeking Rumors

Mentathenis, Sam and Nitzi continue to look around the Neverwinter graveyard groundskeeper’s shack for clues when Sam notices a cloaked figure approaching with a lantern from across the graveyard. As he draws closer, recognizing the eladrin, he pulls back his hood to reveal himself as Gendar. The drow explains that he was out looking for where Fanidea may have wandered off to.

Mentathenis asks Nitzi to assist him in Seeking Rumor and together they hear of Neverwinter’s canals getting warmer, the pending eruption of Mount Hotenow, a dracolich seen in skies, when the Broadbarn Fair may be back in town, the crumbling and flooded eyesore that is Castle Never, and the battle in Neverwinter Wood, fear of the Shadovar.

They decide to check out the canals, and Gendar accompanies them. When they get to the nearest waterway, they find the water to indeed be much warmer than is normal for Neverwinter this time of year. Mentathenis believes it to be geological and may mean that the mountain is truly nearing eruption. Gendar decides to retire back to his wagon, slightly perturbed of the idea of the volcano erupting. Mentathenis, Sam and Nitzi move on to investigate the ruined Castle Never.

Detours

Aces, Cliff, Ehd, Megilwath, Fanidea and Modreg finish locating the tombs of the remaining Neverwinter Nine and pulverize their bones under the advice of Cliff to ensure that they can never be ressurects by the evil armies of the dead. He also has Aces fill her bag of holding with the bone and dust chips of all six honored warriors. Then they make for the exit of the dark tomb, with Fanidea in the lead once more.

After many minutes of navigating the tombs many corridors and rooms, Fanidea leads them to a point that has been collapsed from above. Dirt, rock and stone block their way, and water pours along the walls. They trudge through a foot deep pool of water in order to assess their roadblock. Fanidea decides it far too dangerous to attempt to dig through and out. Megilwath investigates the pool of water and finds an exit flow through a couple shifted wall stones. Aces and Cliff think the wall may be weakened enough to push through to the other side.

After crashing through the wall and sliding down a wet muddy passage, they find themselves in the cisterns of Neverwinter. A crude carved map on the wall shows two rows of 20 large interconnected water pools separated by a 10 foot raised walkway leading to the exit.

Megilwath and Fanidea notice they are not alone in the dark of the pools. A lone humanoid figure stands down the walkway, staring blankly into the pool. His flesh is dripping with mucus and translucent, it twitches, and turns to look towards the heroes.

Castle Never

Mentathenis, Nitzi and Sam make their way across the flooded ruin of the old decrepit caste. The water is dark and motstly stagnant. The sound of bats and other vermin echo through it’s toppled walls and towers. Out of the corner of her eye Sam spots a ghostly spectre of a young woman shifting in and out of the darkness beyond a crumbled archway.

They jump across a broken pillar and head towards her. She doesn’t appear to pay any attention to the three. Mentathenis instructs Nitzi to make contact and the Eladrin hops down and tries to talk to the ghost. Immediately, the ghost turns and flies up to Nitzi silently begging of her. Nitzi steps back perplexed and looks to Mentathenis for advice. He and Sam approach and see the ghostly woman mouthing words. Sam is able to read her lips and they understand her to be Apple Alagondar, one of the royal daughters of Neverwinter. She tells them that a Lich has been digging in the area, and she fears that she may be searching for the Crown of Neverwinter. Then she beckons them deeper into the ruin.

The Host

Aces, Cliff, Ehd, Megilwath Fanidea and Modreg raise their weapons as the humanoid creature rushes down the walkway, gurgling. It lashes out at the mul, but Cliff slams it in the face, splitting it’s skull before it can get to her. It’s lifeless body falls into one of the pools to the side of the walkway.

Ehd looks the corpse over and figures it to be an Aboleth Servitor. Cliff draws the conclusion that there is most definately something called an Aboleth nearby. Ehd explains that the Servitors were once normal humans but were changed into some sort of mind controlled aquatic creature. As Ehd let’s the corpse back into the water, another servitor flies towards him. He falls back and Cliff kicks it back into the water. Aces draws her Maul and spins around as Fanidea and Megilwath slice up, and soul steal them each. Modreg steps back and hides.

A shadow moves under the water. A frenzy of tentacles, flippers, gills and yellow-green slime explodes around Aces, hitting everyone on the walkway. Aces slams the Aboleth in the face with her Maul and it shrieks. It lunges forward and stares into her eyes with it’s four fishy eyeballs. The Mul becomes dominated and turns on her friends. With Aces, the Aboleth is able to pose quite a threat to the heroes before she is finally able to shake off her domination.

The Aboleth is quick and crafty, darting from one pool to the next attacking and retreating. It flails and lashes and spits, hiding behind it’s many Servitors that it summons to it’s side.

The heroes take out the slippery minions as they come forward in defense of their master. The Aboleth drags the fight up and down the walkway and Cliff Aces and Ehd, give chase. Fanidea and Megilwath have no desire chase it around and they, with Modreg, watch from afar.

Everywhere the Aboleth tries to go, Cliff and Aces throw it around and kick it further down the walkway. Ehd supports them and tosses his hammer in for good measure. When the Aboleth is beaten to a more slimy pulp, it swims away quickly, but as fast as it can swim, Cliff can run. The shifter the fishy creature down the cisterns before finally diving into the water, and with a full body punch, sends the creature belly up.

The rest of the party catches up and sees that the cisterns in this part have been heavily sludgefied by the Aboleth. It looks like it was using the cities water supply as a slime coated lair. Ehd points out that there are more Servitors under the water, though it looks like they are brain dead with the Aboleth killed.

The heroes continue on down the walkway, and onto a rickety set of wooden stairs leading up and out of the cisterns back into the morning sun of Neverwinter. They emerge from a small shed in the north-west end of the city. As the heroes walk their way back to the Golden Griffon, the city is just beginning to wake up. Cliff breathes in the morning air, glad to be back in the light of Amanautor. He glances over at the ruins of Castle Never, and through the ruined structures, he catches a glimpse of three people standing deep within them, two of which look extremely familliar.

Reunion

Megilwath, Nitzi and Sam pour over the bones of three or more individual humanoid corpses, recently having been dug up and placed into careful organization. The ghost of Apple Alagondar faded away with the rising sun and left them trying to locate the Crown of Neverwinter in and around the grave.

They hear familliar voices and are surprised to look over and see Cliff, Ehd, Aces, Megilwath, Fanidea and Modreg bounding through the flooded ruins towards them. There are hugs and smiles, stories are exchanged, Nitzi is introduced to the others and though the whereabouts of Krushi and Ree’vr are still unknown, everyone is happy to finally be reunited.

Mentathenis explains what they are up to in the ruins, and Nitzi points out that Valindra’s corpse body over Cliff’s shoulder is kinda gross. Piecing things together, the group draws the conclusion that it was most likely Valindra who was digging through the ruins, and preparing the bodies of the royal family to be raised in undeath. Cliff promptly instructs everyone to pulverize the bones to dust for store in Aces’ Bag of Holding.
Mentathenis, not sensing the presence of any magic nearby, doesnt think the Crown of Neverwinter is in danger any longer.

The Interrogation and Sentencing of Valindra Shadowmantle

The heroes deliver Valindra to the Neverwinter Guard and are given their reward of 10,000 gold. They are formally asked by the head of the guard to conduct her interrogation. They also request the presence of the Mayor for her sentence.

Fearing Cliff’s threat of eternity in a box, Valindra admits to resurrection through undeath, the select bodies in Neverwinter’s Graveyard, the Tombs of Neverwinter, and in Castle Never including three of the honored Neverwinter Nine, and an attempt to ressurect members of the Royal Family. These crimes being done in the name of The Thayan Empire, by order of the Red Wizard, Ssazz Tam, in their effort to fight against the encroaching armies of Netherese, the Shadovar.

The Mayor of Neverwinter, an atrophied dwarf named Soman Galt arrives to advize and enact the sentencing. The group recommends against death for Valindra, and Cliff, given the Liches cooperation, decides against a dismembered eternity in a box. They tell the Mayor that chaining the Lich, alive, in their deepest darkest dungeon for the foreseeable future is enough punishment for her crimes against Neverwinter.

After being thanked once more by Mayor Galt, Balindra is hauled off to her new cell and the party heads back to the Golden Griffon. As Valindra is hauled off to her cell. Cliff, feeling off about his decision to pulverize the bones of the dead, heads for the Temple of Amanautor in Neverwinter.

Aces and Cliff charge in for Valindra, pressuring her into Fey Stepping away. Megilwath and Fanidea corner and subdue one of the Bone Archivists, and she raises it as a minion that she promptly names Boney. She sends Boney to attack another Archivist. Ehd directs combat and keeps the third Archivist busy. Modreg sneaks around in the shadows. Valindra attempts to bargain with the heroes. Asking that if they allow her to live, she will not send her army against Neverwinter. When that fails she begins to threaten. They discover her to be a Lich, and that they can’t kill her unless discovering where she hides her Phylactery, which could be hidden anywhere. Aces and Cliff wear her down and knock her unconscious.

The other two Bone Archivists are destroyed, along with Boney. Fanidea searches the tomb and discovers a [Necklace of Fate +3] Aces investigates the portal that Valindra was channeling and when she steps through, she finds herself in the Shadowfell. She quickly steps back through and tells the party they have to find another way out. Cliff slings the Eladrin Lich over his shoulder, and they attempt to make their way out of the Tomb of the Nine with Fanidea leading the way.

The Golden Griffon

Mentathenis, Sam, Nitzi, Athena, Droggle, Splug and Mira Shadowmoon, fly over the Neverwinter Wood atop their Hippogriff mounts. Below them, bursts of spell flame and the sound of clashing swords ring out as the battle between the New Sharandar Eladrin and the remaining Shadovar ground forces continues.

Mentathenis asks Mira how the battle is going and she tells him it’s going well. He requests that they be flown to Neverwinter and she and the Hippogriff group drop them at the gates. She thanks them for their help and Droggle asks if he can keep one of the Hippogriffs, but Mira informs him that Hippogriffs don’t like to be separated. They say their goodbyes, and Athena gets a list of Inns in Neverwinter from the guards that the six may stay at. Sam browses it for something that Lythannis would approve of. The Golden Griffon. Mentathenis notices a flier for the Lex Broadbarn Faire, though they are two days late. Another flier is a wanted poster for 10,000 gold by the order of the city guard for the bringing to justice of the defiler of Neverwinter Graveyard. Sam makes note.

When they arrive at the Golden Griffon, they are excitedly greeted by Celestine, Lythannis’ beloved Pegasus. They enter the establishment and Sam, using Sona’s guise inquires about the rooms on the top floor. He says two of the four rooms have been rented. And when uses her charm to ask by who, he replies Lythannis Ec’thillion and Terrlen Darkseeker.

They rent the other two rooms Droggle receives a statue of a Golden Griffon and they all head upstairs. They knock on Lythannis’ room and when he opens the door, he almost faints, disbelieving his eyes that his friends are alive. He embraces each of them in a tight hug. After Sam finds out that the rest of the group haven’t returned from Neverwinter Graveyard, Mentathenis takes a private moment together with Lythannis and Nitzi feels left out.

CSI: Neverwinter

After Athena, Droggle and Splug retire to regain their strength, Mentathenis rejoins Sam and Nitzi in the lobby, they decide to go out looking for their friends.

At the Neverwinter Graveyard they discover the defiled graves of dead knights and honored combatants. They find the door busted in on the groundskeepers shack and his five day old body laying in the floor. Sam concludes that he was killed by a knife to the back. But the other half of their party is nowhere to be found.

They head to the guards barracks for more information about the wanted flier. The guard is dismayed to find that the grounds keeper has been killed, and tells them that they have the feeling that it’s the Empire of Thay who is behind the grave robbing. Mentathenis knows Thay to have one of the largest populations of undead in all Faerun.

They return to the graveyard to look for more clues. Among the many mud tracked footprints, Sam is able to spot the prints of a goblin. Following these leads them around the graveyard a bit and then back to the grounds keeper’s shack, where they find the guards collecting the body of the murdered old man. Sam is angered by being unable to find where they all disappeared to.

The Icy Chill of Death

Fanidea leads the group through the labyrinthine tombs. She backtracks a few times attempting to find her way around collapsed sections. A few levels up, the party comes across a room covered in an icy veil, and it chills them to the bone. Whispers can be heard and four Winter Wights coalesce from the icy walls and charge the heroes. They find out before long, that with their deathly attacks and the ability to regenerate, the wights are quite powerful.

During the fight, Modreg sneaks around exploring the coffins nearby. The Wraith Blade tells Megilwath that the Tombs are great places to meet new friends, and that it is inviting someone named “Smiley” down to try out wielding the evil weapon. As the wights begin to drop. The sound of moans and screams starts coming down the halls from up ahead. Tombwalker Zombies and Skeleton Dreadguards shamble into the room attracted to the blade’s call. Before the fight is done, both Aces, Megilwath and Fanidea are knocked unconscious and nearly killed. Fanidea manages to stand again using her amulet. Cliff, still carrying Valindra around under his arm, holds off the remaining tomb inhabitants with support from Ehd and Modreg, as Fanidea, Megilwath and Aces heal up.

Finally Smiley, an Entropic Reaper shows up and declares that the Wraith Blade is his, and that he will not be stopped from attaining it. Aces and Cliff batter him around as Ehd and Fanidea lend support from a distance. They learn that Smiley is trapped in the tomb and he wants the Wraith Blade to keep the Thayans away, and stop them from ressurecting his companions and taking them away.

Once Smiley is shattered, the group notices a faint pulsing glow eminating from a ring on Valindra’s Finger.

Fanidea and Gendar pull up behind the other wagons entering into Neverwinter. They are hassled by the guards about their race and cargo briefly but eventually waved through and directed to the Vendor’s Square. They follow the guards directions, precisely but find themselves entering into a graveyard instead. Then they realize that the guards may have been pranking them and they continue through the city until they can find their way around the giant crevice that splits the whole thing in two. The only road into the main city seems to be through the graveyard after all, they finally find the vendor square and park. Gendar begins to unpack and make room for them to eat.

By the Sea

As the Tombstone rounds the last point, coming into view of Neverwinter harbor, Gregor Faringray thanks Aces and Modreg again for their help in crewing. He adds that if they ever want travel along the sword coast again, he would be more than happy to take them on.

The Feypoppies thank Ciff for his dance move training and Chael Starwind thanks Aces for her confidence building talks and thanks Modreg for his singing lessons. The four dwarves begin lugging all the Poppies’ belonings onto deck to be unloaded.

When the ship slides up against the Gullhouse, Megilwath is the first one off the boat, and looks to be returned to his mocking smiley self. Cliff, Terrlen and Ehd step off and onto the dock, and see why it’s called the Gullhouse. There are Sea Gulls everywhere and the entire building is caked white with their droppings. Lythannis and Terrlen help the Feypoppies off the boat and Aces and Modreg help unload their luggage. Waiting near the pier is a rather ornate royal cart drawn with 6 horses waiting for the performers and their dwarven servants. The Faringray’s head in to grab drinks, and after the Poppies leave, the heroes follow the crew into the tavern.

Rumors at the Gullhouse

Aces, Modreg, Cliff, Ehd, Megilwath, Terrlen and the Faringray’s talk with the bartender about Neverwinter, the climate for Drow, the exploded Shadovar city, and the damage at Baldur’s Gate. The bartender understands them to be heroes and offers them all a round of drinks. He then grabs a wanted parchment off the wall that draws the interest of the team.

It is a poster offering 10,000 gold for the ending of Neverwinter’s issue of grave robbings.

Aces, Modreg, Ehd, Cliff and Megilwath decide to check it out. Lythannis and Terrlen agree to find suitable shelter while they are out and meet back up at the Gullhouse later.

The Tempted Drow

They make their way across the wide bridge past the ruins of Castle Never and through a residential section. They suspect there is someone following them on the rooftops above, and Megilwath and Cliff hunt the mysterious watcher down. They corner him on a roof and subdue him quickly onto the ground. When they pull off his cloak, they see he is a Drow. Megilwath and Cliff discover that he was being lured by the Wraith Blade. He denies them much more information beyond that, causing Megilwath to become impatient. He raises the acursed Spectral Blade and slides it across the young dark elf’s throat, right in the middle of the street. Megilwath and Cliff leave his body and catch up to the others.

Valindra Shadowmantle

They head into Neverwinter Graveyard. After investigating and disovering a large number of unearthed graves, they see a flash of green light and hear a scream very nearby.

When they rush to investigate the source of the noise, they see an Eladrin woman roaming the grave yard. Thinking it strange that a woman would wander the graveyard in the middle of the night—they approach her to learn her name is Valindra and that she was visiting a long passed relative. Aces asks Modreg to escort her out of the graveyard and Modreg complies, because she is quite pretty. He chats her ear off as they head to the graveyard gates and despite his offer to walk her right home, she declines, repeatedly. She leaves him swiftly at the gate and disappears back into the city.

Fanidea Returns

Having awoken from a particularly stimulating meditation to the sound of a scream she decides to check out the graveyard for something to kill. Gendar stays behind because he’s not interested in getting into trouble. She makes her way through the graveyard gates and as she does, she thinks she can hear familliar voices…

She approaches the group with caution, keeping her hands raised and explaining her error in judgement and the lure of the Wraith Blade. She asks Aces to back her up on it because she said as much on the deck of the Tombstone to the mul before she rolled off the side. Aces believes the Drow woman. After much dispute and anger from Megilwath, the group agrees to take the cleric back.

Who is watching Neverwinter Graveyard?

They continue to search the unearthed graves and find that many of them appear to have been dug out of, as opposed to dug in to. They suspect foul necromancy, and continue to hunt. Another green flash and a moan sounds across the headstones. They rush back around to the eastern area and find Valindra, again, wandering the graveyard.

This time they suspect her of being more than just a mourning visitor. She admits she lied, and that she is actually the graveyard ground’s keeper. She was untruthful because the whole damn graveyard is defiled and it appears she is horrible at her job. Ehd suspects more lies and examines her deeply, to discover that she is in fact, undead herself!

She admits as much, and drops her disguise. Her beautiful eladrin skin shrivels up and sinks around her bones. Her robes darkening and tearing. Her voice crackles, but she convinces them that regardless of her being an undead eladrin, she is still a horrible groundskeeper and would like to retire for the night. Aces asks Modreg to escort her back to her housing on the graveyard grounds and Modreg complies, but this time she’s not very pretty.

When he leaves her at her front door, she closes it behind her and the goblin moves to peek through a window. He watches as the shriveled eladrin woman ponders silently for a moment, and then opens a green portal in the nearest wall. She steps over a body and through the swirling doorway. Modreg, noticing that the portal is slowly fading, runs back to get the group.

They all run to the ground’s house and Aces busts through the front door. They investigate the body on the floor of the house. Its the body of a very very old man who may have been dead for a while.

They all jump through the portal to chase down Valindra, suspecting her of murdering the old man, and posing as the groundskeeper.

Tomb of the Nine

Aces, Modreg, Megilwath, Cliff, Ehd and Fanidea emerge on the other side of the portal to find themselves in a tomb and under attack by a group of Icetomb Wights. The party manages to take out the chilling welcome party and search the room. Ehd and Fanidea identify the tomb as being of the Neverwinter Nine, and group of elite personal guards of the lords of the city.

In the main sarcophagus, lies the body of Slade, the last of the Nine. In his hands are gripped around a Mindcrusher Maul which Aces raises with love in her eyes.

She swings it around in a cinematic fashion, then urges the party to move on. There are a few jokes cracked about Wights and Ehd’s mother.

As they continue they are ambushed by Oblivion Wraiths who emerge from the walls, clawing and shrieking in horror. After a painstaking battle, they locate the coffins of N’halien and Tamper, and within one, they find a pair of Gloves of Transferrence.

In the next room of the tomb the party encounters Valindra and three Bone Archivists. The woman is just finishing raising a warrior from one of the sarcophagi. She then ushers the armored undead through a portal and turns to regard the heroes. She is surprised at their tenacity and sends her Bone Archivists to attack!

The corridor rumbles and shifts and the water ripples in an unnatural manner. For a moment Mentathenis, Sam, Nitzi, Athena, Droggle and Splug begin to feel lifted, as if the entire structure is rising and pulling them gently under the water. Shortly after, a second rumble echoes, and then the Enclave is quiet again. It seems the Mythallar is getting closer to being fully repaired. Xinlenal, the first Enclave will fly again soon.

Saranine’s Rescue

They return to the Ritual Chamber and find a different scene. It has been cleaned, and a glowing necrotic circle is now obvious in the center of the main platform. Saranathia lies within it. She appears badly wounded and unconscious. The Cult of the Dragon Priestess stands before her, holding a mirror and three other robed cultists assist. Five Knights of Shade guard the platform stairs.

As the heroes tread water, A blood curdling moan of a 1,000 dead emanates through the walls. The Shade Knights turn to each other in surprise. One of them yells out “We are under attack! Protect the Mythallar!” And they all exit the chamber, leaving the Ritual and the cultists unguarded.

As the six swim closer and start to pull themselves quietly out of the water, the can see that Sara is being drained of blood, which is pulled from her by four corrupted vats. Around the edge of the platform. When the blood gets close enough to each of the four vats, it is turned to red mist and sucked into the vat where it reemerges and drifts back into the Silver Dragon in the form of chilling silver mist. She is very weak, and can not stand or fight.

They charge up onto the platform to rescue Saranine. Droggle goes straight for the vats of corruption and Splug treads around, springing from the most to attack the cultists. Sam takes on the guise of a Knight of Shade and confusing the Priestess, and interrupting the ritual. Athena, Mentathenis and Nitzi stick the the platform’s stairs. Athena lends her clerical might and healing to her allies, while Mentatenis assaults with the arcane. Nitzi tries to stay out of trouble.

After long the vats are destroyed and the ritual circle is cleansed. The three cultists are killed and the heroes focus their attacks on the Priestess. When she becomes bloodied, she offers threat of what will happen when Aurgloroasa hears of their insolence. She applogises to the Dracolich having failed her, and clutches her chest, wracked in pain. Then she explodes.

Sara now in her eladrin form, is removed from the ritual circle by Sam and Splug and manages to become conscious just long enough to speak to Mentathenis…

“Mentathenis…I don’t think, that I…will be able to…write. Write this down…The subject appears to have been drained of her blood…that…they were using some sort of…corrupted basin to change the blood to a necrotic mist…It appeared cold…freezing… like being encased in ice. The subject may have lost…too much, blood to walk, and the Ouch! Mist! Seems to have tenderized it’s scales, eek! And bones. Subject was recovered of the agents of the Cult of the Dragon, under the lead of a housewife named Dyana, by her research team. Mentathenis, could you get someone to carry me? Thank-y…”

They bind their many wounds and attempt to stabilize Saranine.

The city shifts and moves, once more attempting to rise from it’s long rest. It shifts partially into the shadowfell and causes the rooms and hallways to be harder to navigate.

Looking Ahead

Splug explores stealthily. The doors on the East side of the ritual chamber are closed and locked but The goblin is able to pop them. Through the corridors and back to the Mythallar room, he finds it swarmed with Knights of Shade.

Through the North door of the ritual chamber and down the corridors he emerges into a series of stone walkways floating above a vast graveyard, filled with an army of the undead. Skeletons and Zombies mill about beneath the “Web of Stone.”

He returns to the ritual chamber to inform his friends that between the Shade Knights and the army of the dead, he recommends taking on the army. Mentathenis recommends they also check the South and they encounter a lone Shade Knight guard and kill him within an ornate hallway of reliefs of the twelve Princes of Shade. When they kill the guard, he hisses in his final breath. “Master they approach your chamber, be on your guard!” Then the shadow is expelled from his blackened armor with force and it clangs to the ground.

They continue on to discover a large chamber. The city lurches and begins to rise. This time, they do not feel it land.

A View from the Sword Coast

The water splashes against the side of the Tombstone, it creaks and bends, it’s sails full. Gregor Faringray walks back from the bow and gives every one a comforting smile. “We’ll put into Neverwinter just as they’re lighting the lanterns at the Gullhouse. Not much farther now. I wanted to thank you all for being such a good cre…” At this point Braeden, standing at the foredeck yells out “What in the Trackless Sea is that!?” He points shoreside. Beyond the cliff beach and deep forest, to the the distant North East, a dark shape is slowly rising into the sky.

Aces, Megilwath, Ehd, Cliff, Terrlen, Lythannis, the Feypoppies and their dwarven escorts all move to the rail of the boat to look on.

A large chamber scattered with blood and bodies. Something terrible happened there. Near the center of the room three large sickly glowing crystals pulse with necrotic energy, a fourth, lies shattered on the floor, surrounded by Spectral Servants attempting to repair it. Near the throne, The prince of Xinlenal stands in the center, a trance of swirling necrotic energy is being sent to him from the crystals, A statue of the dark goddess Shar looms over the altar.

As the heroes reveal themselves, the prince asks that they do not interrupt his ritual and they are free to leave. They decide not to take his offer despite Sam’s vote to do do so. Sam and Mentathenis are able to identify the ritual involving the four corrupted eladrin crystals. The prince is using the relics to form a gate to the Shadowfell in order to bring forth the “Messenger.” The three servants are attempting to repair the shattered crystal in order to activate the final link.

Droggle charges in to pull the Spectral Servants away from their repairs on his way to the prince, who quickly teleports away from the dwarf. Splug stealths around the side to move into a flanking position. Sam and Athena move in towards the crystals to work on cleansing them of their corruption. Mentathenis alerts the group of their origins and launches his attacks with Nitzi cheering him on.

They are able to cleanse all three crystals who’s healing energy is channeled into the fourth, repairing it. Where before the beams were necrotic, healing the enemy and harming the heroes, the tables are now turned. They have a little trouble dealing with the three spectral servants, whom prince Than’tul continues to raise to fight on.

During the ongoing battle Sam and Mentathenis notice a glowing portal being formed within the four functioning eladrin crystals. They think whatever is going to come through will need help, namely permission to come into the plane. Sam channels healing energy into the portal to unlock the gate.

Splug takes out some more spectral servants, while Droggle manages to trap the Prince in one of the healing beams, stripping his necrotic power and quickly wearing him down. Eventually he warns them that if they strike him down he will become more powerful than they could possibly imagine. And then he succumbs to Droggle’s insults and the healing beam. Just as the heroes are able to take a breather, the prince rises from the dead!

And then he flops right back down dead from standing in the beam of positive energy. He does this three more times before he is fully shifted into the shadowfell, and then flies out as an invincible ghostly specter!

Just as Sam finishes opening the Feygate. The heroes release an ancient spirit of the Feywild, she seems a bit disoriented at first, but once getting her bearings she zaps the prince of Xinlenal into complete non-existence. Then tells the heroes to wait there while she goes and surveys the structure. They are hardly able to take a breath before she zips back and tells them to get to safety, she has found what she believes to be the energy source for the city, and she will destroy it.

Before she zips out, Sam and Mentathenis ask the spirit if she can help Saranine. She informs them that her corrupted injuries are too great, and she would have to bring the dragon into the Feywild in order to heal her. They agree, but before she is transported int the Feywild, Sara wakes long enough to give Mentathenis the map to a place called “The God’s Island” in the Trackless Sea, and 2500 gold to help towards the charter of a ship in Neverwinter.

The Feyspirit then whisks Saranine into the Feywild and zips back towards the Mythallar room.

Across the Web of Stone

The heroes run back through the ritual chamber and through the north door, through more passageways and out into the mind bending Web of Stone. On one of the upper walkways is a Shadar’Kai Witch rallying the undead army into action.

As the heroes attempt to navigate the Web, the ended swarm into it, while behind them, two necrotic circles summon in strange necrotic energy creatures, that when near each other, form beams that sear living flesh. They fight through the mob, and eventually take out the Witch along their way to the edge of the graveyard and city. The city lurches a few times and begins to spin slowly out of control as the ancient eladrin spirit does her damage to the Mythallar.

Splug leads them through the twisting stone walkways over to an arcane prison for what appears to be an uncorrupted energy being. Sam and Mentathenis work together to open the magical seal, releasing the strange creature blasting into the sky.

Mentathenis catches sight of an Eladrin Hippogriff rider and signals to it. When the Hippogriff rider lands, they recognize her as Mira Shadowmoon. She tells them that it looks like the city is falling and asks if they have a way off. They ask her for assistance and she blows an exotic horn, calling in a pack of Hippogriff, to carry them out of the dying Shadovar City.

On the backs of Hippogriffs, into the evening sky, Mentathenis, Sam, Nitzi, Athena, Droggle and Mira escape the doomed enclave. Below them, the Eladrin of Sharandar fight the remaining undead milling about the crater left by the city. Behind them Xinlenal blows apart, sending pieces of debris flying hundreds of miles away and sending shock waves through the air.

Mentathenis, Nitzi and Sam go through the Shadar’Kai Witch’s body but only find her Symbol of Shar. A twisted thing, parts of small animals and demons are bonded together with twine and hair to form a strange symbol. Black smoke pours from a burning ember in it’s center. When held, it wriggles and shakes, as if alive. Mentathenis has Nitzi crush it and then they continue South East through Neverwinter Wood.

After long, they hear something running through the woods towards them from up ahead. It stops and they can hear it’s swords drawn. Mentathenis and Nitzi hear whispers on the wind through the rustling leaves. The creature leaps forward and yells out “Splaaaaaa!” as it is quickly entwined in roots that rip from the ground and lift the struggling lone goblin into the air. Confused, the three heroes look around to see where the spell may have been cast from.

Another group of Eladrin emerge from the woods, the leader of which, a heavily armored woman with a chakram nearly half her size greets the three and introduces herself as Mira Shadowmoon, a warden of “The Hole in the World.” She motions for her men to let the goblin down, and they draw their swords in preparation to kill it. Just as they are about to strike the screaming goblin, Mentathenis recognizes it as Splug!

The Eladrin halts their blades when Mentathenis says the goblin is known to him. Mira nods and her men step back, sheathing their swords. Splug runs to Mentathenis and attempts to explain that he, Athena and Droggle were taken prisoner inside Xinlenal when they were caught attempting to rescue Saranine from the Shadovar dungeon. He managed to escape the cell block and stealthily make his way into the sewers to swim around a giant ritual chamber. After sneaking through a huge orb room, up and out past a spooky alchemist lab and into the woods, he climbed down the Broken Edge and ran to look for help. Then he got caught in the Eladrin trap just moments ago.

Knowing Saranine as well, Mira offers them the aid of her brigade, and the heroes graciously accept. Before she leaves with her squad to gather her forces, she warns Mentathenis that “The woods are no longer our own, the shadows grow longer, and work against us.” They part ways with the Eladrin heading west and Splug leads Mentathenis, Nitzi and Sam towards the Broken Edge.

Supplies

On their trek along an overgrown path through the wood towards Xinlenal, they happen across a log shoved into the ground with a board crudely nailed to it. Across the board is scrawled the word “Supplize” with an arrow pointing off to a side path. Splug doesn’t remember seeing the sign on his way through the first time, so they decide to check it out and see if they can restock anything they may need.

When they reach the short path’s end, dug into a hillside is a small counter stand and what appears to be a hooded figure sitting low and unmoving, seemingly waiting patiently for customers.

As they approach the hooded supply vendor, an Ettin bursts from it’s hiding spot off to the side yelling “Supplize! I catch you in a clever trap! Now you be my dinner!” They engage the Ettin Spirittalker and after a fairly painless fight, the huge beast falls before them. There are of course, no supplies to be bought from the vendor, who was in fact, just a cloak propped on a stick. After the Ettin’s attempt at catching a hearty meal, Mentathenis, Nitzi, Sam and Splug continue on.

The Broken Edge

Not long after, they find themselves at the base of a 60 foot cliff. Splug tells them they must climb and they do their best to secure ropes and use grappling to ensure a safe ascent. The goblin makes it up first and helps to pull up the others. As he is doing so he is spotted by a hungry Hippogriff Matron who swoops from her perch in the trees and attempts to snatch the little goblin up. Splug is quick enough to move away but the beast soars around for a second attempt. The goblin secures the climbing line and defends himself, trying to slash at her as she flies by.

Mentathenis, Nitzi and Sam make their way up the cliff face and assist Splug in subduing the creature, but not killing it. After searching the area a little more, they discover her nest tucked into a rocky outcropping and bearing four recently hatched young. They decide not to disturb them and after long the matron regains consciousness and returns to her nest to protect them.

They continue to follow Splug towards the Shadar’kai Lab on the outer edge of Xinlenal.

Witchholm

As they approach the outer broken walls of the fallen city, they see two skeletons guarding the entrance. They duck to hide, and Splug moves around to the hole that he climbed through during his escape to get a better look behind the wall. On the other side, he sees two more skeleton guards and as he is about to make a move to attack, a Shadar’kai Witch emerges from a building with a small raven which she sets on fire and releases into the air. It flies about 10 feet into the sky, and then flops back to the ground in a burning heap. The witch cackles and sighs, returning to her lab. Splug waits until she is gone and signals to the others that he is going to attack.

He springs from his concealment and engages the two closest skeleton guards. Mentathenis, Nitzi and Sam also emerge and fight the outer guards.

With the skeletons out of the way, they barge into the building following the Shadar’kai witch and find her inside an alchemist’s lab of some sort. She screeches as they enter and threatens to use their skins in her experiments, teleporting to keep away from their attacks, but without her guards to protect her, she falls. They search around the lab and Splug manages to pick up 2 Alchemist’s Fire. Mentathenis makes a point to stop by to cook up some of his own potions on their way out. Splug leads them out the other side of the Witch Lab, through an alley, down into abandoned cellar, and through the tunnels in the underbelly of the dark city.

The Mythallar Stirs

The tunnel that Splug leads them down, opens into an expansive room with a 100 foot wide orb resting just 10 feet above their heads. Piles of eladrin artifacts and valuables are scattered throughout the room. There are two Knights of Shade standing sentry at both ends of the room and four shadowy cloaked figures move the eladrin relics into place to extract the residuum and feed it into the orb. Each time another relic is devoured, the dark orb pulses with light. Mentathenis and Sam identify it as the Mythallar, the Shadovar city’s heart of darkness, that, when repaired fully, would allow it to rise once more.

They decide to put a stop to it while there and engage the two Shade Knights . As with past encounters against the elite soldiers of Shade, they proove particularly challenging. Splug is knocked unconscious twice during the fight, and everyone sustains multiple injuries before Sam, in the guise of a Shadar’Kai Witch, is able to manipulate the two into standing down and leaving the orb room entirely.

After the Knights are sent off on another assignment. Mentathenis, Sam, Nitzi and Splug attack the cloaked shadow figures and realize that they appear to be illusory, taking only one hit to burst into smoke, then reforming and continuing their ritual again. They attempt to hit each of the four at the same time and that seems to stop them from returning, at least for a while.

From the Mythallar room Splug leads them into an underground waterway and towards the Ritual Chamber.

Early for the Ritual

Ducking under a low ceiling in the waterway, they swim quietly into a large circular ritual chamber. The water moat goes around the raised ritual platform, under stairs that rise to it on four sides and out the other end, which Splug says leads to the Dungeon where Athena and Droggle are being held. There are a host of Shade Knights on the main platform standing guard at each of the stairs. As the four heroes decide their plan to get across the room, an ornately dressed Shadovar, a dark priestess and three robed cultists walk onto the ritual platform. The priestess voices her disappointment with the condition of the chamber to the Shadovar but says it will do once straightened up. She calls on the three robed cultists to start clearing the debris from the watery moat and the Shadovar says he is going to check the Mythallar room, as it seems that there is a problem. The priestess asks the assistance of the four Shade Knights in helping her retrieve the dragon. Mentathenis identifies the priestess as being part of the Cult of the Dragon along with the three robed figures. The Shadovar Man, he believes, might be the prince of Xinlenal.

The party, with Splig in the lead start swimming their way around the ritual platform until The goblin is noticed by one of cultists. He pretends to be helping the cultist clean the moat and then when far enough from the other two cultists, he pulls the robed man into the water and holds him under until he expires. Mentathenis, Nitzi and Sam catch up quietly and they head through the watery tunnels into the Dungeon.

Dungeons Deep

The party emerges from the water into the dungeon block where Athena and Droggle are being held. After some sneaking around, they call themselves to attention of the Shade Knight guards and a host of skeletons. It is a lengthy, bloody battle to rescue their friends, one that sees Splug fall unconscious twice before being able to get to the right cell. By Sam’s healing abilities, and Mentathenis’ and Nitzi’s magic, they fight through, and Splug picks the lock on their cell door. Sam promptly questions why the goblin didn’t just pick it in the first place, to which none of the three have an answer for, and feel generally stupid.

Nonetheless, Athena and Droggle thank their friends for the brave rescue and make their way quickly to their effects in the storage room and suit up. Once armored, they join the fray against the remaining guards and are able to clear out the dungeon of enemies. One of whom decides to leave the fight early and retreat. Droggle asks Mentathenis about Krushi and where she is. Athena bestows Splug with the title “the Undying” and they prepare to free Saranine from her horrible fate.

The Tombstone continues to make it’s way up the Sword Coast. Captain Gregor and his two sons Braedon and Darrel are still exhausted, but Aces and Modreg are of great help in crewing the ship, allowing the three salty dogs a bit of rest.

Modreg becomes quite the rigging monkey, and is able to scurry up and down the masts effectively, adjusting and reefing sail. Cliff is up at dawn in the mornings doing fighting routines on the rails of the ship. The Feypoppies, Teena, Vitnee and Chael watch him and begin to incorporate his moves into their dance, noticing their interest, he takes an active roll in their practice, and they in turn teach him a few tricks as well.

Ehd decides to take the time to write a book on war strategy and Terrlen mostly keeps to himself and attempts to stay out of the way of the ship operations. Megilwath is almost never seen, and stays in a dark corner of the ship. Fanidea stirs in boredom.

At some point Rumbert approaches Aces and apologizes for beating her so badly in poker and asks about the curiosity about Sona and the Feypoppies. Aces tells the story of Sona and then Rumbert tells her what he knows about the musical troupe’s interest in the girl.

He talks about each of the three girls and runs down their places…Teena Tigerlily is the lead and she vyes for attention. She is a control freak and takes any idea she finds to be good as her own.

Vitnee Moonshale is the one who believes that Sona will be a great addition to the Poppies, and she secretly wishes to replace Teena with Sona as group leader, which is why she is desperately seeking her.

Chael Starwind is the third wheel, she tries her hardest to extinguish the fires between Teena and Vitnee. She is relegated to back up singer even though she has more talent and a better voice than both her group mates combined, though she never gets the spotlight. She is thinking about a solo career.

The two thank each other and Aces notices Braedon and Darrel using a spy glass to track movement over one of the islands. Aces sees what they are pointing at and tells them that it is Lythannis and his Pegasus, Celestine, just now catching up to the ship.

Sona’s Final Message

When the Eladrin dismounts the white winged horse, He stands as tall as always but his brow is furrowed more than is in character. He pulls Aces aside and speaks…

“We cleared the rubble, all the way into the underground levels and beyond the wizard’s library. There was…too much death. Blood everywhere. We. We couldn’t identify the bodies with so much damage. There were no survivors from inside the tower. I am sorry.”

He looks down for a moment and Aces denies that the Eladrin and Sam could be dead. She knows them to both be far craftier than Lythannis is giving them credit. Lythannis is filled with hesitant hope and regains his eladrin composure, then he says

“Something else though, among the few salvageable items from the library level we found this…”

He unwraps a dagger and hands it to Aces.

“They identified it as Sona Summergale’s Songblade. Once they accessed it’s secrets they found her entire catalog of songs, in full, along with one final message. Judging by the time it was infused, it would be after she was taken by the Shadovar.”

Everyone within earshot leans in at the mention of Sona Summergale. Lythannis places his hand on the dagger and tells the mul she should probably listen in private.

Down below Aces, Modreg, Megilwath, Terrlen and Lythannis listen to the message…

“Need help. So cold, so alone…betrayal. Abandoned! My head…whispers…Oh gods, the whispers! I told them…everything! The agony! Not my body…memories…fragments. The darkness! He returns. Never long…he returns! Please just let me die!”

When the message ends, everyone stands in silence, it takes them a while to discuss what it may mean. Aces can’t figure out how the dagger got into Sona’s hands after she was taken prisoner by the Shadovar, and even more perplexing, why it ended up in the wizard’s tower of Baldur’s Gate.

Lythannis then mostly keeps to himself, staring out at the sea, drawing picture after picture of Mentathenis.

That night, the boat makes anchor in a very narrow passage between the mainland Sword Coast and a group of islands halfway between Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter.

Vision of the Demonweb Pits

Fanidea stands upon a crag over and within a webbed world, a massive funnel, floating moats and nests are all around her. It can only be described on a celestial scale as It stretches out, around, and behind her again, then twists upwards into infinity.

Though so large, it feels absolutely crushing and, it is nearly impossible for the Drow to breathe.

When she turns, she realize that she is at it’s end. The very bottom, and the deepest part of the spider’s lair. The the body of Lolth it’s entwined before her, spun-in, and tangled in webbing. She shifts, and her long slender widow-black legs push through and rip their way out. She emerges in all her glory, all her perfectly disgusting beauty. Her flawless dark elven body and face of a drow noble are propelled forward atop her arachnid lower half. 8 feet click across the stone surface as she strides towards the Drow, a maniacal smile pasted across her face, eyes burning red and death white hair billowing out behind her.

From Fanidea’s hands ignites the Wraith Scythe, and as the spider queen nears, she draws it back and prepares to strike.

Fanidea awakes and Megilwath asks if she is alright. She assures him she is, though she can hear a voice in her head telling her that she could have the power to kill Lolth if she just took up the Wraith Blade.

When Fanidea snaps from her meditation, the Wraith Blade whispers many things to the Drow. Promising ultimate power, enough to destroy Lolth. It also reveals to her that the Wraith Blade is only a name, and it can be any number of weapons, even a Scythe. It urges her to kill Megilwath and take it into her hands. She skirts around the idea at first, remembering the entire reason she is on the boat in the first place is entirely in opposition to what the Wraith Blade wants. She is supposed to protect Megilwath at the request of her guild in Menzoberranzan.

The cursed blade eventually starts to threaten, and no sooner, a host of Goblins and Orcs begin an assault on the anchored Tombstone.

Aces, Megilwath and Fanidea engage the oncoming enemies. Aces has the crew of the Tombstone moving as quickly as possible. And they begin hoisting anchor. During the fight, Fanidea decides to flirt with the idea of taking the blade before something truly evil gets their hands on it. The goblins and the orcs swarm onto the boat, but Aces and Modreg are able to manipulate and dispatch them easily knowing their way around the boat. Under clouds of darkness Fanidea attacks Megilwath from behind. It takes a moment before he realizes what is going on and turns his attacks against the goblins towards Fanidea. The Drow Cleric leverages the power over her kind and her undead minion crocodile from the Koa-Toa cave.

Megilwath attempts to defend himself but is very nearly killed by her, but Ehd and Aces figure out what is happening and lend aid to their friends who both claim they are being assaulted by one another. Eventually Fanidea is subdued and thought to be dead by the others but through her Amulet of Defered Death, she is able survive. before she slips off the side of the boat, she tells Ehd she is sorry, and she was tricked. She makes her way to shore and sneak past a trio of Ogres. The group finishes off the remaining Orcs and Goblins and Gregor, Braeden and Darrell get the Tombstone moving just as the Ogres bust through the trees and make their way into the water.

Fanidea’s Path

Fanidea wanders through the woods, badly bleeding. Her white hair caked with red. Her scythe drags behind her. After a while, she comes to a road and is nearly run over by an oncoming horse and carriage. She announces herself as not an enemy and that her ship was attacked. The man driving the carriage pulls back his hood to reveal himself as Gendar, the Drow shop keep from Baldur’s Gate by way of The Seven Pillared Hall, by way of Sschindylryn. He vaguely recognizes her from when he caught them in Baldur’s Gate and led them to his new underground (and now mobile) shop.

He tells her he is on the way to Neverwinter, hoping to catch her friends again (his best customers) and offers her a ride and rest in his cart. She gladly accepts and up the road they go.

Mentathenis, his new apprentice Nitzi, and Sam Emerge into Neverwinter Wood via the portal from the Feywild. Nitzi questions the safety of portals and voices her concern about the fact that she can’t remember anything prior to walking through it. Mentathenis explains to her about the nature of portals and sometimes disorientation can happen. She also asks about the fact that their last names are the same, and if Mentathenis is her father, to which he replies no, but she is a member of House Starfeon. He also starts calling her “Snips.”

After a moment, a deafening roar is heard overhead. Nizti closes her eyes and covers her ears. Mentathenis and Sam look up and through the canopy of the trees to glimpse the silhouette of a giant undead wyrm. The beat of her wings bends the trees and causes a blast of wind to surge towards them from above. Aurgloroasa screeches once more before she soars out of view. Mentathenis explains to Sam that they must follow the Dracolich, in hopes that she will lead them to where Saranine is being held captive. As they continue on, he tells them about Sara’s messages and Aurgloroasa’s plans to transform her into a Dracolich.

Old Sharandar

Soon after, they come across some old ruins that Mentathenis identifies as part of Old Sarandar, an ancient Eladrin city. Beautiful Fey relics, statues, toppled structures lie scattered about.

As they move through the ruins, they notoce that many pieces have been removed from the area, judging from indentations in the ground. Mentathenis teaches Nitzi about the ruins and it’s history. They then notice a fountain with a small lighted stream reaching out of it towards the sky. They conclude that it must be a beacon of some sort. Tucked behind one of the pillars of a ruined temple structure is a chest. Sam uses her knowledge of the Arcane to open the chest and Mentathenis has Nitzi watch. Suddenly a large Shambler animates behind Sam and swipes at her with it’s whipping branches. Though quick it appears to take great care around the relics and moves slowly around them. Sam plays a tune that slows the plant creature even moe and it doesn’t take long for them to kill it.

As they head back to the chest to collect it’s contents. a group of seven eladrin emerge from the woods and greet the three. The head Eladrin, introduces himself as Alcyon Nightbinder, a guardian of the Sharandar Restorers in Silmataurea. He thanks the three for protecting the relics while they were away. The six restorers renew the shambler and it returns to sleep in it’s sentry position. Alcyon offers the three adventurers assistance and a nights stay in New Sharandar to recover from their wounds. He also requests that the relics be returned to their care but Sam persuades them to let her carry them instead, citing the fact that she balanced one of their goblets on her head while killing their Shambler guardian. They agree.

Alcyon leads them all to a ruined temple, a Feybough. He offers Mentathenis the honor of opening a Fey Passage, and through they go, back into the Feywild, stepping out of a giant boulder on the other side, and on to New Sharandar, the eladrin village and headquarters of operations within Neverwinter Wood.

Safe Rest

They are led to Alcyon’s house and his partner, an eladrin woman named Alachia serves them dinner and over the meal their host expands on their presence within the wood. He tells them that his people are working to restore Sharandar to it’s former glory but with the Netherese removing precious artifacts from their sites, they can only hope to rescue as many as they can and bring them To New Sharandar for safe keeping. He says It has not been easy, and the Netherese have made off with countless sacred works of art and knowledge. They have lost two whole Fey Vaults to the darkness already and he fears that with each lost vault the Shadovar move forward their plot to resurrect Xinlenal that much faster, by repairing it’s Mythallar. He talks a little about the Fey vaults and their heavy defenses, but the Shadovar are still able to infiltrate and pillage them.

After dinner they all head to bed and the next morning Alcyon accompanies them back to the Feybough to see them returned safely to the prime.

The Fey Vault

As they continue on through the wood in a south eastern direction they coma across what appears to be a burrow with large stone doors that have been partially destroyed, allowing entrance into an underground passage. As the three decide to check it out, Mentathenis believes it may be an opened Fey Vault and something was trying to get in. Just past the entrance, they notice skeletal footprints, and two logs carved with thorny vines flanking the carved passage. Just beyond that, there is a large thirty foot long pit that also decends thirty feet into a nest of brambles. Tangled in the vines is an undead skeleton, struggling and entwined.

When Mentathenis reaches the edge, two claw like blades rip from the walls at the far side and slice forward toward him, before they hit him, he fey steps to the far side. The blades retract back into the walls. Nitzi and Sam examine the logs, while Mentathenis explores a little further to discover two more logs carved with a pattern of fire. Sam and Nitzi discover that the two eight foot logs can be removed from their alcoves easily. Mentathenis invites Nitzi across the pit to check out the fire logs. Sam stays back working on a way for her to cross. When Mentathenis pulls out one of the fire logs, the ceiling above the pit collapses, and with it, a mass of burning material falls into the pit lighting the brambles below on fire along with the stranded skeleton. Fire bats swarm put of the fire to attack the three intruders.

Three of them attack Nitzi and Mentathenis, a fourth flaps over to attack Sam on the entrance side of the pit. The bats prove to be more annoying than anything and Mentathenis takes the opportunity to let Nitzi get some practice in. After the bats are defeated, Mentathenis and Nitzi continue on, leaving Sam to figure her own way across the flaming pit.

A little further, The two eladrin find two more logs, these carved with mountainous peaks. Mentathenis instructs Nitzi to lead the way and she steps on a trigger plate, a rumble sounds from up ahead and a huge rounded boulder comes roaring towards them. They run back towards the entrance and fey leap across the pit to join Sam just as the boulder flies into the pit extinguishing the fire. Mentathenis and Sam decide to try to prop the logs up near the walls and at the edge of the pit. They activate the lade trap and when they slice out of the walls they crash against the logs and shatter. Allowing a safe crossing by grappling hook and rope. As Sam makes her way across, Mentathenis goes over the contents of the adventurers kit with Nitzi.

When the three move deeper into the heavily protected vault they come to what appears to be a dead end, at a waterfall spilling out of the ceiling and flowing through a small crevice in the floor. There are two more logs that Sam checks for traps, and notices a device under one of the logs. With no other options, they move the logs which are lighter that the three sets before, and hollowed on one side. The wall behind the waterfall cracks open and reveals an underground stream leading into the earth. The three use the logs as small boats and ride them down a twisting flume into the main Fey Vault. An underground lake, cluttered with beautiful statues temples and art. Above them looms a gigantic earthen dome roots and dirt twisted together to form a ceiling. In the center of the dome, on a small island, is a bowl of water, held by four dead browned roots.

Sam begins to loot quickly, against Mentathenis’ wishes. He leads Nitzi into the center of the small island to examine the fountain. The eladrin scoops a bit of water to sprinkle it on the roots, causing them to green slightly. Then he takes the bowl and pours it over the entire base, The roots suck in the water and turn from dry to a greenish brown, becoming rejuvenated from their ends down into the earth.

The ground begins to shake and they feel themselves being lifted towards the top of the dome. It’s roots pull back to release falling earth down from above. Light shines in as it breaks apart and opens. The three continue to rise along with the underground lake, the water draining away leaving them standing back in Neverwinter Wood, among the newly resurfaced ruins of Sharandar.

There to meet them is a Shadar Kai Witch with a host of skeletal minions. She voices her thanks to the heroes in raising the fey fault for her to loot and then commands her minions to attack. Without too much trouble the skeletons are defeated, and much of the witch’s magic fizzles against the three. They are able to quickly put her down.

Aces, Modreg, Megilwath, Fanidea, Ehd, Cliff and Terrlen have been on the ship sailing up the Sword Coast for two days. Bad weather has slowed their journey, fighting the tide wind and rain, it has been miserable. On the third day, the rain lets up enough for them to emerge from below deck. Captain Gregor Faringray and his two sons, Braedon and Darrell are still wearing their foul weather gear and look disheveled and tired.

Cliff has been praying a lot, Terrlen maps the Tombstone and enlists the help of Ehd. Aces helps out where she can squeeze between Gregor and his sons. Modreg hates being on the water. Megilwath has kept to himself brooding in the corner, and Fanidea sharpens her scythe.

The Feypoppies, Teena Tigerlily, Vitnee Moonshale and Chael Starwind practice their song and dance routine on the deck of the ship.

Rumbert, Raggert, Radnor and Rimblenose, mostly keep to themselves playing cards below deck, though they frequently emerge to vomit over the side, even though they haven’t eaten since Baldur’s Gate. Aces joins them, playing for a while looking to learn more about the four dwarves and their three elven employer’s interest in Sona Summergale. She gets a little info but for the most part, the dwarves stay quiet about gossip.

After an argument between Captain Gregor and his sons about being behind schedule, they decide to make anchor earlier than usual, near a wrecked boat about the same size as their own. It is wedged up in the rocks, near the shore.

The Wreck

Cliff, Ehd and Fanidea swim over to explore the abandoned ship and drag Megilwath along. On the deck, they find two skeletons, floating and bumping against the partially sunken ship’s rail and a strange symbol etched into the mast, and elsewhere on the ship. A point with 6 lines radiating from it. Four straight vertical lines below that l and one horizontal wavy one across the bottom. Most of the cargo has long since been looted but they discover spears in skeletons on cots.

Outside they can hear splashing and yelling from the Tombstone. The four explorers emerge from the underbelly of the wreck to see what the commotion is all about. Everyone is looking over the rail of the Tombstone and throwing things into the water. Braedon yells out that they saw something under the waves, humanoid and green with a spear.

Cliff and Ehd quickly dive into the water to check it out, and Fanidea follows, when she looks back to Megilwath, he is swimming back to the Tombstone. Frustrated and looking for a fight, she turns to head after the Monk and Warlord.

On their way down, Cliff spots a creature swim down and into an underwater fissure. He points it out to Ehd and they head towards it. Fanidea swims quickly to catch up.

Koa-Toa Lair

They emerge inside a dripping cave. Fanidea leads them with her dark vision into a large cavern with crude stone pillars and small ponds. They can see more of the symbols that they found in and around the wrecked ship. Fanidea checks the depth of the pools and lets her companions know that they go deep, and not to fall in. Cliff heads towards the largest pool and as he does, Kuo-Toa jump from the waters to attack the intruders. They pile in with their spears. The three are able to wipe out the first few with easy, but before long, they begin attacking from their pools, launching javelins. Ehd and Fanidea work on killing the ranged swimmers, while cliff hits the few who pop up from behind them. Soon after, the Koa-Toa are killed, and the three head further into the lair.

In the next area Fanidea notices a large dark shape under the water of one of two large pools, and Ehd is able to catch a glimpse of another Kuo-Toa in one of the pools. Suddenly a huge Crocodile explodes from one of the pools with a Kuo-Toa Drowner riding on it’s back and flipping a barbed net int the air catching Cliff inside. The Croc follows behind and bites into the Monk. As they begin to attack a second Crocodile bursts from the water behind to sandwich the heroes.

Fanidea discovers that her Flamestrike inhibits the crocodile’s algae regeneration, and Ehd works to keep the field under control. Cliff takes the brunt of the attacks but does a good job of keeping the enemies from attacking his friends. He falls during combat but manages to be healed. Before the first Croc dies, Fanidea casts Servitude in Death causing it to rise after falling and fight for the drow. She and Ehd continue to attack the now dismounted Drowner, and eventually the Undead Croc snaps the Koa-Toa in half. Fanidea turns it on the second croc and when it snaps at it, the second croc moans and cowers back to the pool in which it came.

They heal Cliff and head into the next cavern, as they approach, they can see a light owing brighter and brighter until they turn the corner and it is snuffed out in an instant. When their eyes adjust they find themselves in a large pool room with a shrine of a Koa-Toa priestess. A frightened Koa-Toa dives into the water and swims away. Cliff finds a stash of treasure under the water in the amount of 500 gold, a pair of Strikeback Gauntlets and a Girdle of Shielding.

Fanidea notices a small black crystal floating in the head of the stone statue’s staff. She removes it, and they head back towards the Tombstone.

Near Miss

As they exit the lair, Fanidea, Cliff and Ehd notice that her pouch is glowing brighter and brighter. The crystal within is gaining energy and when the swim out of the fissure, a beam of incineration fires from the crystal, through the pouch and up towards the Tombstone, narrowly missing it.

A huge thunderclap hits the ship, and a giant beam shoots from the water into the sky. The Feypoppies are frozen in terror, the dwarves hit the deck and the crew of the Tombstone duck. Aces recognizes the effect from the Goblin Tower and dives into the water where the beam originated, her maul rips her towards Fanidea and even before The drow can surface, the mul swipes the crystal fom her hand, and gets it into her bag of holding before it can recharge.

Fanidea Cliff and Ehd apologize for bringing back something so dangerous, and Aces explains to them what she knows about the power of the shards.

The next morning, they pull up anchor and continue on towards Neverwinter.

Mentathenis, pops the lid on the chest, an eye shattering light rips through the library. Before it blinds him fully, he is able to catch a glimpse of the chest’s contents. A strange pulsing orb and a dagger…

Then the light is ripped away into darkness and he hears a whisper…“Welcome back.”

The Hollow Tree

The environment has changed, the air around the heroes is no longer that of a dank dusty old library, but one of a cool forest.

As their eyes and ears adjust, they find themselves at the bottom of a gigantic tree’s hollowed stump. Sam, Andurel the librarian and the guard, Reginald stand disoriented. All around them hums the sound of wildlife. Golden runes, nested in the soft grass at their feet pulse, shatter into shards of sparkling glass and begin to fade away. A silver wisp of calming light floats nearby. It shifts and quickly flies away through a crack in the withered husk of the long dead tree.

Mentathenis is glowing. His skin is more translucent than usual, and through his veins pulse streams of light. His sky blue eyes are lit, and his hair is positively radiant… Andurel looks the same, as he is no longer a ghost, but once again, a living breathing eladrin, he stands in shock, but ecstatic to be alive. Reginald is freaked. Mentathenis is in bliss.

Suddenly. They hear a cracking and splitting, as if something is trying to break it’s way through the wall. Then they realize it’s already through, and was there the whole time, a tree sized treant stomps it’s way towards the four in anger.

Reginald moves in to do his guard job, Andurel rushes in to flank and Mentathenis and Sam launch their attacks and support from afar. The Treant hits hard but Sam knows they are highly vulnerable to fire and calls it out. Mentathenis hits it with a scorching burst and then conjures a flaming sphere. Reginald keeps it’s attention with taunts. During the fight The eladrin wizard determines that the Treant is under some sort of enchantment, though it is not corrupted. He lets the others know that it is okay to burn it down. And that’s what happens.

They move to the crack in the tree where the wisp disappeared and they discover a double magically sealed door. The first of which, Mentathenis is able to deactivate, the second, is typically a password in elvish. Being the Feybough into the Wizard’s tower of Baldur’s Gate, He recalls the password through ancient texts he once studied. “Tenna’ telwan san” “Until later then.” The side of the tree opens up to reveal a passage through and into the greater Feywild.

Through the Feywild

They make their way through the wild, skipping over huge rocks and ducking under giant roots of tress. Slippery moss covers everything. The etherial light finds it’s way through the cover and ignites dew into sparkling crystals of green and blue. They drip into the air and float away. Nearly everything in the Feywild displays a shifting subtle bioluminescence, when caught at just the right light entire forests can light up in life.

Sam catches sight of the wisp, zipping through the woods to the north. The sky is slowly growing lighter as the four enter into the swamp lands.

Nitzi

As they descend into the swampy territory, a thin layer of mist floats along the ground, obscuring it from their view and only a few giant twisted trees stretch above the veil. They tromp across the muddy landscape, sloshing through puddles and tripping over uneven terrain. Frogs and crickets sound all around.

Somewhere nearby, they can hear the sound of female laughter echo across the mist and can hear female voice say “Naa ta lle yeste? Naa lle sinome a’sina?” Mentathenis translates it to common from elvish for his companions “Is it your first time? Or are you here to reminisce?”

Sam, Andurel and Mentahenis attempt to locate where the voice came from, but can’t figure it out, and then it speaks again….“You won’t find anything if you are, hehe, it’s not here anymore, once you fail, you fail.” To which The eladrin queries “Here for what?”

And she replies “I’ve seen a bunch of you eladrin, prancing through goin’ on your trials…”

Andurel recommends that they move on and ignore the voice, Mentathenis responds that he is not on any trial, and they are trying to find their way back to Baldur’s Gate.

“Oh, interesting.” The girl says.

Sam continues to look around for the girl, but instead discovers a small red and black frog sitting on a log. It stares at the changeling and then looks at Mentathenis and speaks! “It is nice to see one more anyways, and his friends” Mentathenis picks up the poisonous frog with Mage Hand. Upside down she says “I could be a friend! I could be your best friend! For the right price.”

“Who are you?” He asks.

“My name is Nitzi, and I’m very poisonous, so be carefull!”

He shakes her around a little bit in attempts to get information but she doesn’t give in, only begging to be let down as she is starting to feel sick.
In effort to sell she tells him that The other eladrin, those who return, have told her stories about the trials. Finally Sam talks her price to speak down from 300 gold to 20 and she accepts, yawns and asks that they Just drop the gold in the water. Mentathenis sets her down, and she tells him “You must choose the weapon. It’s the only thing that will save you!” And he asks “From what?” She smiles, turns, and starts to climb back down the log into a hole.

“From your friends.”

The mist is clears, shapes begin to emerge from the white, and in the everpresent light they bloom into fanning ferns, beautiful flowered stalks and twisting bizarre plants of all shapes and sizes. In the water at their feet, they can see hundreds and hundreds of gold coins scattered about. There is far more than their own 20 coins under the water.

Behind them, they can hear Nitzi yell out…

“The forest is dangerous between here and the trials. Be-waaaaaaare! Hehe!”

The Friendly Satyr

The Feywood begins to grow dark and the four hear music on the wind. Following, it grows louder, the sound of a pan flute, and quite a beautiful melody, until winds pick up and drown it out. It appears that a fey storm is gathering. Up ahead they can see a dark wall of foliage, that they push through into a beautiful little glade, On an enchantingly ray lit grassy mound, is a cottage. There is a Satyr on it’s porch, playing the flute.

When they enter the glade, the little daisies turn their petals and awe at the four walking into the garden.

The goat man notices them, then hesitantly walks over to them and introduces himself as the friendly Satyr. They ask if they can find shelter and he says yes, but only for the night.

The winds outside begin to pick up to hurricane levels. A heavy shower pours into the forest. Trees at the edge of the glade are waved back and forth, struggling to hold themselves together.

He turns to each of the heroes and asks them to tell him about themselves. And they do. He then offers to show them some magic, enters his bedroom and returns with an illuminated sword. Which he presents as having been his grandfather’s, a great slayer of unfriendly satyr.

Mentathenis asks to examine the sword and identifies it as being called the Infinity Blade. He is awe stricken by it’s power and says " In the wrong hands it can be very dangerous, but in the right, it could be used to great effect against the forces of evil." The satyr asks if his hands are the right ones and Mentathenis replies that they are, and the Satyr offers him the blade. He accepts.

The friendly satyr also offers three more magical items to Sam, Andurel and Reginald, a dagger called the Shifting Slicer. A Codex of Sorting and a Halberd of Courage respectively. They accept them all along with four trinkets of moderate magical properties. An hour glass, a stepping stone, a key and a vial of air.

The friendly satyr laughs maniacally then begins to grow. His eyes turn a burning red and he says “Your greed has made me powerful! Now you will pay in kind with your lives!” He attacks.

After a quick battle, they manage to lay the satyr in his bed and put him to sleep, the weapons that he gave disappear but the trinkets remain, and the fey storm outside subsides, allowing the four to exit the glade and continue on.

Four for Four

After a short trek they come across a wide dry river. Huge boulders are scattered about. Using caution, Sam picks up a rock and chucks it into the bed. The pebbles begin to shift and roll to the side. Then the larger rocks begin to follow. A huge stone flips itself on end and rolls away ricocheting off of two larger rocks which rock back and then come barreling forward, slamming against other giant boulders. All the rocks in the bed start rumbling. Thinking it far too dangerous to cross for fear of being crushed, Mentathenis tries to use one of the trinkets. He pulls out the hourglass and flips it over, suddenly all the rocks stop in time, allowing the heroes to make their way quickly to the other side. The hourglass disappears

Soon after, the four find themselves standing in front of a fifteen foot high Wall of Writhing Thornes, Sam takes out the flat stepping stone and places it on the ground. It creates a floating staircase up and over the wall allowing them to pass. The staircase and the original stone disappear.

When they find themselves in the middle of another beautifully lit glade in center of five trees at each point of a star. Mystical sparkles rise from the grass, as if the whole area is imbued with magic. They discover that each tree has a word written upon it in a language they have never seen but Mentathenis thinks it similar enough to elvish that he can translate them. One of the trees has a hollow knot in it.

“Mani naa ta lle merna” meaning: “What is it you want?”

Mentathenis pops the top on the vial of air and as he approaches the tree with the knot in it, he begins to discorporate and flow into the dark hole. Then he thinks about what he wants, to return to Baldur’s Gate and through the hole he can see the ruined wizard tower of the city. Changing his mind, he chooses to continue on to his trials and the vision through the knot changes accordingly, to another area in the Feywild. He and Sam allow themselves to be sucked into the hole to the other side. Andurel says he wants to see his daughter, and through the knot sees that she is alive and well in Silverymoon, working in a library. He is happy with that vision and asks to see Mentathenis, then discorporates and drifts to join he and Sam on the other side. Reginald, tired of the Feywild and just wanting to return to his duties as guard of The Gate, changes the view to the ruined wizard’s tower, and drifts through. The knot closes and the vial of air disappears.

Mentathenis, Sam, and Andurel make their way into a darker area where a strange viridian glow is present. As they crest a hill, below in a blackwood, burning green sap belches from the trees, pouring out in streams and forming slow moving rivers of sticky flaming molten sludge. Andurel uses the last trinket, the key and walks towards the sap where it clicks into an invisible lock. When he turns it, the glowing outline of a door appears and he opens it. A mirror of the door becomes visible on the far side of the sap field. They walk through the threshold and come safely out the other door. The key and the two magical doors disappear.

The Tower of Starlight

They move into a large field of flowers and watch as three huge roots erupt from the ground before them. They twist around each other and stretch toward the canopy of the forest. As they rise together, they pale and begin to change into a pearlescent, semi translucent structure, stars and galaxies swirl within it’s crystalline walls. A door forms at it’s base and the roots extend five stories into the air before stopping. Something emits a glow at the top of the tower.

Andurel stays at the bottom as Mentathenis and Sam climb it’s spiral stairs.

Final Trial

At the top, a glowing being, shaped as an eladrin female floats in the center of the disc that they now stand upon. Her eyes are locked upon Mentathenis. And in his head he can hear a whisper…

A spectral image of the Infinity Blade appears, and spins in the center of the floor. Around the edge of the tower, spectral images of Mentathenis’ and Sam’s friends.

Lythannis Ec’thillion struggles to sift through the rubble of the Wizard’s Tower in Baldur’s Gate, A look of fear masked by resolve across his face.

Aces, Modreg, Ehd, Cliff, Terrlen, Megilwath and Fanidea are circled, talking. They share a look of worry coupled with determination, they rock back and forth on a ship in the ocean.

Saranine Lunathalia is chained by glowing shackles, she has her nose buried in a book. Something draws her attention and she looks up, hesitant hope is glimpsed in her eyes before she sighs and returns to her reading in disappointment.

Symernia the Nightbringer leads an army of demons against a small village on a strange desert landscape. For a moment, in her eyes, flashes a cry for help then they burn up in focused hatred as she slices through her enemies.

Krushi appears to be flying through darkness, really fast, and straight down. Lightning trails out in lengths behind her and she leaves a funnel of swirling mist in her wake. For a moment, Mentathenis and Sam think they see her grin.

The glowing eladrin woman giggles.

Mentathenis says “Let’s get this done!” And grabs the Infinity Blade.

“Battle Mage indeed…you may not like my choices.” says the glowing woman…“Lythannis. Just a friend or is he more? As you are unwilling to sacrifice for him, you must fight for him.”

The spectral image of Lythannis steps onto the platform anger in his eyes. He draws an arrow from his bow and fires it at Mentathenis hitting him in the shoulder. He returns fire with his spells and Sam helps to keep the eladrin wizard alive against his friend. Eventually, without too much trouble, the arcane archer is defeated and his image is dispelled.

“Saranine Lunathalia, Saranathia, the Radiant Dawn. Though she can still be saved, lets see what will become of her if she is not.”

The spectral image of Saranine breaks her shackles as her skin decays turning into a lich. She steps onto the platform, and moves to destroy Mentathenis. She attacks with necrotic spells and abilities and the Eladrin fights back with Magic Missiles. Below, hearing the impact of the magic, Andurel decides Mentathenis may actually need his help and runs up the tower to engage. Sam does a good job of keeping her eladrin friend alive and with Andurel’s radiant damage preventing the lich of Saranine from regenerating, they are able to take her down, and she disappears.

“Though you have chosen battle as your answer, you have the will and power to carry it through, no matter the obstacle. You are ready.”

The glowing woman raises her hands and into them she summons Nitzi the frog. Who cries out “Whhoaaaaaaa! Where am I? What’s going onnnn?” The frog explodes into golden light and transforms into the shape of an eladrin girl. A red robe swirls out of the air to cover her dew kissed porcelain skin. Her hair turns from golden light to a shining black.

She looks at her arms and in shock she says, “I, I have…fingers! Oh wow, I’m tall! I’m! I’m! What am I?”

Mentathenis asks the glowing woman “Who is the dark haired eladrin?”

The glowing woman answers “Her name is Nitzi Starfeon, She is your apprentice. Train her well.”

Then she turns and opens a portal into a forest.

“This will lead you into Silmataurea, Neverwinter Wood, where the next stage of your your journey begins. Tenna’ telwan san.” And she turns back into a wisp and disappears.

Andurel congratulates Mentathenis and bids both he and Sam farewell, jumping from the tower and blinking into the Feywild below.

Mentathenis looks towards Nitzi and says “Come along!” She and Sam follow him through the portal and into Neverwinter Wood.

Aces stands on the bow of a small single mast ship, gulls scream and circle in the clear, sunny sky above. The cool wind and fresh salty spray feel refreshing on her skin. Behind her, on the deck of the vessel, she can see a number of fishermen, gutting and preparing the catch for sale on the city docks in Waterdeep. It has been almost a year since she and Ree’vr became crew members on the “Flounder.”

After Sigil

When Aces, Ree’vr and Scribnib jumped through the portal in Sigil, they found themselves suffocating on the other side. What they expected to be the arid desert landscape of Athas, was in reality, an ocean of salty water. They were drowning! Their vision growing dark, they are pulled upward. In their heads, the Mul and Thri’kreen hear a calming voice “Struggling is unwise.”

When they awoke, they found themselves on the deck of the Flounder with four bushy bearded fishermen and a young girl staring down at The two. Scribnib was nowhere to be seen. The captain, Benburt Brinebrow, told them that he and his crew rescued them both from an aquatic tentacled monster. They took them both on as members of their crew. Conveniently, they had two spots open, as they had recently lost a pair of brothers…to an aquatic tentacled monster.

They picked up swimming and then swabbing, and then fishing, and eventually sailing. The young girl, Sinna Brinebrow, with her father’s permission has taken to learning how to fight by the outsiders and even more impressive, she seems to have some latent psionic ability.

During the nights at anchor, Aces is always accosted to share the stories her adventures, and were told tales of the high seas in return. The majority of which unfortunately devolve into arguments about who caught the biggest fish.

That evening in a secluded cove, after sail has been stowed and anchor dropped, over the fire and fish and drink, they tell stories once again.

Story Time

Nick stands, nearly falling overboard and yells out…

“Okay okay! I’ll go first! Once upon a time, I caught a fish so big and so ugly…” He points to Benburt… “I thought I’d saved your mother from drowning!”

Benburt shrugs his punch off and replies “Your mother drowned years ago! She drank herself to death after havin’ you pop from’er slimy bilge!”

Nick, noticeably annoyed, jumps over the side and heads toward the shore to gather herbs and coconuts.

Sinna pushes Aces to tell a story, and the Mul jumps up and claps her hands together, Sinna pulls out her waterlogged journal and gets ready to take notes.

The Mutant Mekillot

Aces and fourteen other gladiators rush the pile of weapons she dove for the rope expecting to pull a bladed hook, but when it came out of the pile, it was, in fact, just a rope.

Sinna interrupts and asks that Aces tell the story in her native accent, because it sounds more epic. Aces nods in agreement and continues.

The sand in the center of the arena bulged, as something huge began to pull itself up from under the arena floor. The other gladiators rush the creature and find their weapons useless against it’s domed carapace. It moved quickly, faster than any other Mekillot with it’s extra legs. This was the fabled many legged Mekillot! Aces laughed at the stupidity of the other gladiators and ran around to the right, the Mekillot attempted to follow, but even with it’s extra legs, it could not keep up, and turned back to crush a few of the other gladiators beneath it’s belly.

Aces jumped up on the beast’s tail and rolled onto it’s carapace. She sprinted over it’s back, right up to the back of it’s head and flipped the ends of the rope around her arms. With a quick movement, she turned the length around and wrapped it over it’s beak. As it fell back under it’s neck, Aces yelled out “This is how you kill a Mekillot!” and threw all her 300 pounds backward onto it’s shell. The creature howled and gurgled, lifting it’s head and body in attempts to relieve the tension, but only making it worse by dangling Aces over it’s back.

She heard the snap of it’s gullet and it began to roll to the side, crushing two more gladiators on the ground. Aces let her self be rolled along it’s shell until she could catch her feet and run off it’s side as it crashed to the sand. The dusted herself off and ripped the rope off the thing’s neck.

Everyone on the Flounder cheered excitedly.

The Starseed

Sinna finishes writing something in her journal and thanks Aces, then she stands…

“I have a story!” She says.

“Long ago, there was a girl, lost on the tides of Faerun. She was said to have drowned somewhere in this very sea, and carried with her to the bottom, a treasure of many worlds. The Starseed it was called! Many a sailor, pirate and treasure hunter have since hunted the tides for her bones in hopes of discovering her secrets.”

“But the allure of her invaluable treasure was only half of what drove men to their deaths upon the waves in chase. Beyond what she carried, she herself was a treasure, because this little lady had special powers.”

“Every time someone would get too close, the girl would jump away! To be chased, again and again…for all of eternity!”

She pauses, a look of disappointment across her face, then says "OR! orrr, until she finally finds love, and then she could take them jumping with her…for all of eternity! Yup!

Benburt interjects “You made that up!”

Sinna throws a glare at her father. “Nu-uh! I heard it from Mr. Gusterson in Molden Port, it’s a true story!”

From the island, Aces, Ree’vr and Sinna hear a yelp from Nick and then silence. Sinna puts her journal away and pulls her cutlass, diving into the water. Aces follows and Ree’vr jumps from the boat to the shore.

Strand Hunters

The three follow Nick’s tracks along the foliage line until they find a grouping of tracks eventually leading to three foul smelling creatures dragging Nick’s body behind them. Aces rushes in with her maul and Snna follows waving her cutlass. Ree’vr jumps after them stabbing with his Gythka. The two larger Troglodytes head off their attackers biting and swinging their clubs. Behind them, a Tide Chanter uses his staff to channel poison rays and spur on his guards. It is a bloody fight, and before it ends Aces and Sinna are knocked unconscious and revived, and Ree’vr falls after a nasty bite from one of the Trogs. Aces is distraught at the loss of her friend. She pouts.

Benburt and the rest of the crew bring Ree’vr’s seemingly lifeless body back to the boat to put on ice. Aces and Sinna search the Trogs and take the Tide Chanter’s clothes and helm. They discover that Nick is still alive and was only paralyzed from a nasty bite.

Ree’vr awakens in darkness to find himself ice cold and surrounded by fish. He pushes open the doors to the hold and bounces off the Flounder to catch up to his friends. Benburt and crew are confused.

A Treasure of Many Worlds

Following the Troglodyte’s tracks back to their origin they discover a horrifically smelling lair. Inside are the rotting corpses of many dead animals and humanoids. In the back of the cave is a pile of gold. When they begin to collect it, Aces notices, there are athasian ceramic pieces among the gold. Sinna points out that even some of the gold pieces are foreign to her and she quickly draws parallels to her story and the great treasure that the girl sank to the bottom of the sea with.

They return to the Flounder and give some of the gold to Benburt to buy out the next day of fishing to explore the island a little more.

The Last Troglodyte

The next morning, they set out to explore again. When they come across a Troglodyte eating a deer, they assassinate him and raid his lair, discovering more rotting corpses, and this time, there are dead Troglodytes among them.

They make their way around the small island, and eventually up it’s single craggy peak, rising just over the top of the canopy. From the vantage, Sinna can see the other surrounding islands as well as a swirling tornado over the water about two miles out. She hops down and grabs the hands of Aces and Ree’vr running them back to the beach.

Fish Vortex

Sinna pilots the Flounder through the turbulent waters towards the fish vortex. A swarm of hungry seagulls spins above creating a cyclone of white feathers, Aces and Ree’vr prepare their nets while Benburt and the crew ready the hold for stock.

Circling the edge of the funnel, Aces and Ree’vr haul in net after net full of fish while Sinna does her best to keep the boat on a steady course. She does an expert job until something starts crashing against the hull. Nick yells from below that the boat is taking on water and Ree’vr heads down to attempt a patch. Sinna feels the boat right itself as it drifts out of the vortex uncontrolled. The rudder is gone. Aces jumps into the water and as the fish begin to disperse, she can see two Sharks swimming towards her.
The first one manages to take a bite out of her before she is able to teleport it onto the deck of the Flounder, where Ree’vr is quick to put it to death. Sinna jumps in to cut off the second and with the help of the Mul, they leave it belly up.

Now that the vortex has cleared, Aces and Sinna notice a dark shape far below them. It looks like the sunken wreck of a ship…

Wreck and Rescue

Sinna spots a three masted sailing vessel emerging from behind one of the nearby islands. With a spyglass, Benburt identifies the ship as “The Maiden” a fast attack pirate killer from Luskan, coming to lend aid.

Sinna and Aces throw each other an excited look and rush to grab the anchor. Aces jumps in holding it to speed her descent. Sinna watches the line She knows she can’t make it to the drowned ship but hopes she can get close enough to discover it’s name. The wreck is mummified in seaweed. It’s writhing stalks twist and turn trailing off its stern as in an eternal plunge towards a bottom long since hit.

Aces can make out just the last three letters of it’s nameplate. “-EED”

Sinna bugs Aces about what she saw and she tells her it was a nameless wreck. Sinna twists her face in disappointment.

Moments later, the mul gets back to the deck and The Maiden arrives. It’s captain, a man named Cave Wygarthe offers to tow the Flounder back to Waterdeep.

That night, Aces tells Sinna and Ree’vr that the wreck might have been the Starseed. Sinna gets excited but then upset that Aces kept it from her, breaking her trust. The woman tries to explain that she had to keep it a secret so as not to fall on the ears of the Maiden’s crew. Sinna pouts.

Aces, Modreg, Sam and Lythannis chase Sparky and Radar through the streets. Ahead, they can see the wizard’s tower walls. The pugs zip past the two guarding swordmages and continue towards the tower through it’s gardens but stop when they realize they are no longer being followed.

The swordmages halt the heroes as they approach. Sam informs the guards that they believe their friend Mentathenis to be in danger and need access to the tower. The guard informs them that the tower is closed to all coming or going while the city is under attack, but that one of them would go fetch him for the visitors. The second elf heads towards the tower while the other stands to watch the battle across the city.

Becoming impatient, Sam uses a diplomatic approach to finally persuade the guard to allow one of them through. Sam catches up to the pugs and heads into the tower, following them through the halls and downstairs into the wizard’s library, where she finds Mentathenis, a ghost, the second elven swordmage and a guard, pondering over a chest at the back of the library.

Aces waits outside with Modreg and Lythannis. More soldiers and guards rush passed them towards the front gates of the city, catapults and other devices of war are being rolled by. Townsfolk are running up and down the streets in a panic and women are drag their children behind them in attempts to keep up with their husbands. Amidst the chaos, the mul spots three very colorfully, well-dressed elven girls making their way quickly through the crowd. They are chased by four dwarves, all with large gear sacks slung over their backs and hauling suitcases behind them. One of the elven girls drops a piece of paper and it floats across the street to land in a puddle in front of Aces. the girl falls out of line to go after it and yells out “Oh no, Sona! Guys! Wait!” The other two girls and dwarves slow for a moment as she fetches the paper, frowns at it being soaked through and catches back up to the group. They continue rushing through the crowd.

Upon hearing the name Sona, Aces chases them down. When she catches them, the rearmost dwarf notices the large woman approaching and gives her a nod. “What do ye want?” he asks.
Aces inquires about Sona and this draws the attention of the elven girls, who turn and walk back in curiosity. “Do you know Sona Summergale?” The one with the soaked paper asks excitedly. Aces responds with a yes and asks who the girls are. They line up and pose in front of the mul. “I’m Teena Tigerlily! I’m Vitnee Moonshale! I’m Chael Starwind! and we are The Feypoppies!” they all say in unison. “And these are our supporting dwarves! Rumburt, Raggert, Radnor and Rimblenose.”

When pushed for more information about Sona, Aces reveals that she knows the woman very well but that she was taken by the forces of Shade. She learns that the Feypoppies are searching for her in interest of having her lead their musical group, and that they are currently rushing towards a chartered boat called “the Tombstone” that is soon to be returning to Neverwinter. Thinking quickly, Aces promises many stories about Sona to the girls if she and her friends could accompany them on their boat to Neverwinter. They agree, and tell the mul that the boat is at dock number four, leaving in 30 minutes time.

Aces heads back to the wizard’s tower and asks Modreg to gather their things along with Megilwath and Fanidea from the Gatehouse Inn, and sends Lythannis off to get Terrlen and the others towards the gates of the city.

Dark City

Krushi fires herself into the sky. a lightning bolt sizzles the ground where she stood while Ehd, Cliff and Ree’vr turn to face down a Knight of Shade and a Shadow Spreader. In an instant the halfling is flying high above the dark city and it’s swarm of gargoyles looking down at its twisted architecture. She heads down towards the tower line for a better look. Among the bizarre layout of alleys, hallways, tunnels and thin bridges, she can see many shadows milling about along walls, but no physical beings within it’s commons. As she is exploring, a Gargoyle spots her and before it can fly towards her, she disappears in a forked lightning strike to duck into one of the old towers. Inside the tower is mostly empty save for a few dancing shadows. Much of the cities inhabitants seem to exist somewhere between the prime material and the shadowfell.

She pauses to focus on the energy empowering her, and feels drawn towards the largest of the city’s towers, a black windowless spire rising far above the rest. She follows the draw of power down to the maze level and through it’s twisted passageways, she finds a path from below up through the hollow structure to it’s top, where she threads a small crevice and finds herself on the only floor of the tower. Strangely, the floor is open to a ghostly fog below, and a bridge extends from the tower’s side into nothingness. There are two decaying thrones and what appear to be twelve gaunt shadowy human-like figures carved from the walls in some sort of relief. A shiny dark faceted stone floats on a center island over the fog, surrounded by four statues.

Krushi can sense that the crystal she seeks is being held in an ornate chest placed off to the side of the room. She moves over to it and opens the lid to find the tiny black shard, it’s edges glowing faintly with radiant light.

She snatches it up and turns towards the floating dark stone in the center of the room…

Another Taken

Ehd, Cliff and Ree’vr, injured as they may be continue to fight against the Knight and the Spreader. Cliff is careful to keep hitting the shadow creature so it can not raise more than one Blazing Skeleton during the battle. Ree’vr assists Cliff and Ehd does all he can to see himself and his friends through the battle, healing and calling out strategy.

Just when they are able to put down the Shade Knight, Pyraxis and another imp carrying an hourglass, rise from the shadow. The Balor slashes Ree’vr with his lightning sword, pushing the Thri’Kreen off balance and then quickly bearing down on him for another attack. Ehd crushes the imp with a powerful attack and it struggles to stay airborne. Pyraxis grabs Ree’vr by the neck and drops into the shadow, taking the mantis with him. The imp follows and soon after so does the Shadow Spreader. Shade drifts to a point just over Baldur’s main gate and slows to a stop.

In an Instant

Sam makes her way into the wizard’s library with her two dogs to find Mentathenis, a ghost and a young man pouring over a chest. The eladrin greets the changeling and refocuses his attention to the magical seal upon the box. He has dealt with arcane seals of this power before, and recalls enough to break it handily. When he lifts the lid, a blindingly bright light explodes into the library. Sound is sucked from the room and beyond the growing light and flame, Mentathenis squints his eyes to make out the shape of a dagger laying at the bottom of the chest…

Aces feels a tremor beneath her feet and the gardens around the wizard tower are sent into the air as a bubble of stone and earth explodes from beneath the massive tower’s base. Aces is blown back nearly a block and debris is sent halfway across the city. The tower drops, and it’s base shatters outward under it’s own weight as it begins to crumble into its own footprint. Aces pulls herself to her feet and rushes towards the crumbling structure. A huge piece of wall riding the wave of destruction rolls towards her and she is buried under it.

Krushi’s Stand

As Krushi moves towards the black stone, the shadowy image of Symernia appears on the island below it. She speaks…“We have everything we need, it’s time.” and then fades away. Above the stone, the shadowy image of a blighted desert landscape comes into view and Krushi begins channeling her powerful lightning attacks into the dark object, damaging it and sending it spinning slowly in place.

Around the room, the eyes of all twelve gaunt shadowy figures open, and gaze into the now wobbling implement. Shadowy streams of dark energy flow between each of the figures eyes and the orb as Krushi continues to lay into it with her magic.

Gate’s Destruction

The earth begins to shake and the ground opens in a gaping maw tearing towards the gates of the city from Ehd and Cliff’s position. They watch Shade climb into the sky forming a vortex beneath it that shreds through the city walls lifting stone steel and hundreds of soldiers into the air. what isn’t lifted, falls into the wide crevice below. When the enclave disappears into a point the shock wave nearly throws Ehd and Cliff into the hole, but they manage to avoid plunging to their deaths. They run passed the carnage and ruin to seek their friends.

Regroup

Aces hears voices and the sound of rocks being thrown around. a shaft of light pours in on her darkness and she can see Modreg clearing away rubble along with Lythannis, Megilwath, Fanidea, Cliff, Ehd and Terrlen. Modreg extends his little green hand to hep her out and then dusts her off. All that’s left of the wizard’s tower is a giant mound of destruction.

The mul looks around to take inventory, asking about Mentathenis, Sam, Krushi and Ree’vr. Lythannis shakes his head in a sorrowed response about Mentathenis and Sam, and Ehd and Cliff tell her Ree’vr was taken by the shadovar and Krushi disappeared in a bolt of lightning. Aces turns and starts digging through the rubble and Modreg jumps in to help but Lythannis steps in to place his hand on the woman’s shoulder. “I don’t think anyone could survive that Aces, no survivors have yet been pulled save for you.” She swats the archer’s hand aside and continues to dig, the thought of losing her friends weighing heavily on her, then she remembers the boat. Struggling emotionally, she decides it best to get everyone out of the city and on to Neverwinter, appointing Lythannis to see through the excavation and regroup with the others when he discovered the fate of Menatathenis and Sam. He agrees to that plan and stays behind with Celestine as Aces runs everyone across the bleeding city of Baldur’s Gate towards the docks.

Into Darkness

Shade starts to tilt to the side as the halfling continues to light up the room with her abilities, further disrupting the black stone. A huge crash is felt throughout the tower and the floating city seems to stop, listing to one side. The image of the arid desert fades away, the dark figures stop channeling, and a shadowy barrier surrounds the stone. One of the twelve figures rips himself from the wall to approach the meddling halfling. “Intruder, what do you hope to accomplish with your weak magic?” Krushi turns and scowls at the wretched man. “What do YOU hope to accomplish? What do you WANT?” The figure grins, his teeth rotted.

Demons and Undead emerge from the walls and floor. Krushi can feel hot breath bearing down on her from behind. A deep voice answers “The Wraith Blade halfling, and we are now one step closer to acquiring it, thanks to you and your friends.” Krushi turns just in time to see the swing of a lightning sword, knocking her in the chest across the room. She falls near the crevice that she came in through and for a moment thinks about flinging herself into it to escape but realizes that the shard’s power has greatly diminished and so has her own. She knew would not survive a fall to the bottom without flight.

Pyraxis stalked towards the halfling, his flame whip crackling about as he whipped it menacingly. Krushi, weighed her options quickly and as the balor’s whip pulled back for the killing strike, the girl gathered her remaining energy and flew through the floor into the extra dimensional cloud space beneath the black stone…

Early the next morning, Mentathenis and Lythannis are roused from their slumber by a rapping on their window. A large scraggly crow pecks away until the wizard opens the window to let it in, when it flies up to perch on his shoulder and continues it’s pecking on his head. Words begin to form in the eladrin’s mind, in broken common but readable enough…

Mentathenis tells Lythannis he has been called away to check out a book and leaves immediately.

As the others wake up and prepare to head out, Lythannis let’s them know about Mentathenis’ errand. Aces has a feeling of dread fall over her. It feels like the night of the card game in Sigil. Townsfolk gasp in fear, women grab their children and run, men point to the sky over the city gates where the black silhouette of Shade hangs menacingly. War horns are sounded and guards begin to mobilize. Krushi can feel the same energy she felt at the goblin tower. As she moves towards the dark enclave, that power grows stronger. She can not take flight yet, but she is already feeling lighter on her feet. The group decides to split up. One group to go after Mentathenis and the other to follow Krushi into battle against Shade.

Aces, Modreg, Sam and Lythannis along with the help of Sparky and Radar head after the wizard. Krushi, Ehd, Cliff and Ree’vr move towards the main gates where a massive battle has begun for Baldur’s Gate. Megilwath and Fanidea, stay hidden at the Gatehouse Inn so as not to be seen and mistaken for the enemy. Terrlen helps get people to safety.

The Fields In Shadow

As the Halfling and her companions muscle their way through fleeing townsfolk, and charging soldiers, they can see the scope of the battle come into full view. Hundreds and hundreds of men of the Gate fight off a massive army of undead lead by Pyraxis, barking from the rear. A tiny imp flutters about him carrying a small device.

Boulders soar over head from the catapults of the city. A circling swarm of hundreds of gargoyles work to stop the attacks. A few at a time turn themselves to stone and dive bomb the approaching projectiles, knocking them off course or turning them to much smaller rocks upon impact.

Cliff and Ehd can see the enclave gradually sneaking its way forward towards them. Krushi feels herself gaining more energy and realizes that every time she has been in the presence of shade, her hair has gone static. She focuses on that energy and dark clouds begin to form in the distance. The four rush into battle where the enemy has broken through the lines. They take on a group of skeleton warriors and archers, chill born zombies, and blazing skeletons.

Cliff beats into splinters the many who swarm him, becoming enraged, he rips through the undead, until finally having to retreat to be healed by Ehd. The Warlord calls out tactics and inspires his friends to attack with a vengeance and keeps his eye on Krushi, who waits for her clouds to roll in, casually flinging her magical lightning across the fields and blowing up skeletons. Ree’vr jumps around the battle in strides, cutting down undead left and right with his Gythka and spinning his Chakras with deadly accuracy. Before long, the undead in their area have all become dead. Pyraxis yells out “This city’s end has come! Baldur’s Gate will fall!” He and the rest of his army sink into the shadow, leaving the soldiers on the field to look around at the ready. Rain begins to fall.

Krushi’s eyes narrow and ignite with electric energy, she looks into the sky…

The Wizard’s Library

Mentathenis makes his way swiftly across the city, his robes flowing behind him. He had been to the Royal Wizard’s Library before and knew where it was, but decided to follow the ugly black bird on the path it thought best through the crowded streets. War horns sounded in the distance and gradually drew closer, then receded again west over the city. As he approached the gates of the wizard square, he glanced behind him to see Shade in the distance. He knew he would have to make his visit to the library brief…

The two armored elven swordmages held up their hands at the approaching wizard, their gazes locked into the distance at the looming darkness. “What is your business here…wizard? Oh.” They apologetically bow and stand aside to let Mentathenis pass, then return to their stare.

He makes his way through the great doors and into the bowels of the massive tower. The eladrin wizard grins in excitement to be amongst so many of his arcane endowed fellow once again. Down the spiral stairs into the Wizard’s library he goes to greet the ghostly librarian, Andurel.

“Ah, Mentathenis, yes. The book that Saranine requested be saved for you…just came back in. It has been quite popular as of late. I didn’t know when you would make the gate, so I placed it back on the shelf…” the elven spirit said.

He motions for Mentathenis to follow him and the eladrin turns to walk after the specter. Without warning, the four large, lit braziers are snuffed out and the library is plunged into darkness, save for the blue glow of Andurel. Mentathenis casts light, and hard shadows of bookshelves are painted in broad strokes around the room. The sounds of hissing can be heard, and the animated dark of some small, quick nightmarish creatures scurry about…

“I do think…we are not alone in here right now.” Speaks the ghost.
“You are not wrong my departed friend, your assistance would be most appreciated.” as Mentathenis draws his wands.
“And you shall have it! I’ll not have my library disarranged!” Shouted Andurel!

A group of Runespiral Demons and Skulkers rush out of the darkness towards the two. Mentathenis launches a Scorching Burst on the creatures and fey steps to the top of a bookshelf, Andurel flips a book off a shelf and whacks one in the head, then follows the eladrin above. The demons scurry after them clawing biting and arcing lightning bolts out of their faces.

Guard #327

Reginald stood at the top of the library stairs. He spun his halberd between his hands, watching it skitter across the stones of the floor as it twisted on end. At 16 years old, he was new to the Bauldur’s Gate Guard, and knew that his guarding of the library was only a temporary step in his long but ultimately rewarding career in the military. If only something heroic were to happen to him…

Suddenly, he felt a large rumble and heard an explosion downstairs. He knew Andurel always kept his library quiet, “Something must be up!” He said to himself and rushed downstairs to see strange creatures running about. He remembered his training and rushed in fearlessly, yelling out “Everyone take cover!” He swung his halberd towards one of the small shelled ones and it’s head found purchase in the demon’s hide, causing it to screech in pain.

Andurel and the Eladrin were fighting off the monsters further in, and Reginald set to fighting his way over to them.

Mentathenis notices Symernia the Nightbringer near the back of the library accompanied by an imp flitting about her carrying an hourglass. He fends off the smaller demons and turns his attention towards the hourglass, using mage hand to wrestle it put of the creatures hands. This draws the attention of the succubus, keeping her eyes fixed on the hourglass. Andurel pulls a number off books from the shelves around the woman and they swarm around her, causing her to become slowed. When the eladrin discovers the timepiece to me non-magical, he shatters it on the ground, and Symernia immediately calls for a retreat back into the sewers. Mentathenis, Andurel and Reginald manage to kill off a few of the creatures during their escape, but can not stop the succubus fro getting away.

With his attention returned to the library, Andurel knows immediately that one of the books has gone missing, The exact same book that he was to give to the eladrin at Saranine’s request, in fact. He also notices a strange chest sitting against the back wall…

The party spreads out to take on the goblin workers. Aces and Modreg work to flank and take out the melee attackers while Sam and Mentathenis work to take out the two goblin archers. Very quickly, they best the enemies and explore the compactor level. Modreg and Sam discover two heavy lift elevators that appear to be used to ship trash up the tower to be sorted through and compacted. Sam wants to disable the lifts just in case, so she hops over the compactor walls from above and sifts through the junk to find a nice couple of wedges and happens across a Rope of Climbing. They jam the pulleys on the elevators and head up to floor 11.

As they head up to level 11, they notice a horrendous stench, and through quick investigation, Modreg warns his friends that it is the goblin potty floor. They carefully but quickly move across the floor, avoiding the small stink boxes and head up to the next floor.

On level 12 they walk into a bizarre scene. There is one goat here, tied up and strung from the ceiling. It looks beaten and very tired. A host of strange devices lay about the room, it vaguely resembles a torture chamber. Sam browses for some kink while here, but doesn’t find anything that suits her needs. Modreg scouts out the next floor.

On the 13th level there is anther door at the top of the stairs. This door is locked. Through window in the door, the quartet can see a circle barrier in the center of the floor, surrounded by a dozen or so small tables and stools many of which have been over turned or are covered in junk. At one of the tables closer to the middle sits a humanoid skeleton, hunched forward. The back of it’s skull is bashed in. A thick smell of home cooking permeates the air and a single goblin female can be seen rummaging around behind the barrier.

Bellga’s

When Modreg unlocks and opens the door, it rings a bell above, to which the goblin woman yells out “We’re closed! Come back later!”

The party attempts to sneak by to the next stairwell but the goblin catches sight of them.

“Hey! I said! Gasp! …”CUSTOMERS!" She jumps down off of the counter and knocks a bunch of pots and pans aside as she runs out behind and then around towards the four. A cleaver is in one of her raised hands and she waves it around wildly. Before she throws it into the table before the group, hops next to it and then flips it back onto it’s legs. she kicks junk off of four stools and dusts them off before she smiles a wide toothy grin and motions for the heroes to sit, and in interest of not being rude, they do.

She rips her cleaver from the table and darts back around to the far side of the center bar, throws boxes into the air in search, then comes running back waving a few parchment. She stops, takes a deep breath and stands as tall as her 3 foot height allow. “Welcome to Bellga’s masters. Tonight we have a few new entries on the menu that I think you will enjoy. Our special for this evening is Crab Paste Loaf, one of my personal favorites.”

Aces, Mentathenis and Modreg open their little menu’s awkwardly and browse the selection.

Bellga stands patiently. “Take your time, please!”

Modreg orders the Crab Paste Loaf, Aces orders everything on the menu, Mentathenis orders the Gorgik Stew, and Sam picks Slug’s Super Spicy Soup. Everyone decides to go with Wildgrove Mead for a drink. Bellga thanks them for their order, takes their menu’s and wakes up her two assistants, who help her cook and set the heroes table.

During the meal the party asks Bellga about her regular customers, where the Lobster came from and discover the origin for the meat in the Gorgik Stew is very nearby, uncomfortably so.

After dinner, Aces starts to hallucinate from the Queen Mushricka Salad seeing dancing mushrooms, and both she and Sam are trying to cool off from the Spicy Soup. The Wildgrove Mead also allows for a limited blind sight in the form of glowing shapes through closed eyes.

They thank Bellga for the meal, and head to the next floor

The Upper Levels

On the 14th level they are perplexed to find a boat construction facility. Four skeletal boat hulls in various stages of their crude construction lie in the room. Piles of wood and tools lay around. It won’t be too hard to move across, but they hear the hammering of steel somewhere on this floor. As they are moving through, they catch the eyes of a goblin shipwright who watches them confused for a moment, but lets them pass and returns to his work.

They discover that the 15th floor is largely non-existent. There are only 9 large pillars that separate the floor below from the floor above. On the center pillar the party finds some writing. “E murj-en c x-it” They decide not to take the exit at this time and continue to the 16th level.

This floor is nearly empty save for a small team of goblins who quickly form up to get ready to fight. Aces charges into the room after the lead goblin and a giant door opens out from under her. It’s a trap! She manages to catch herself before falling down to the floor below. Modreg tries to cut off a goblin coming around the side and also finds himself dangling by the fingertips. Mentathenis and Sam do their thing from the stairwell. Aces spits the soup she’s been swishing around her mouth since dining at Bellga’s. It splatters all over the boss goblin and burns his belly.

Modreg pulls himself up and charges down the goblin on the left. Mentathenis launches a Stinking Cloud on top of the goblins and they begin to choke and wheeze. Sam sings a tune of sorrow that makes one of the goblins turn his knife on his own heart, and cut it it out for her. Aces spews the rest of her soup onto the goblin boss’s face. It melts off and falls away, splatting on the floor. She rips the faceless goblin’s legs out from under him with a swing of her maul to end his life. A few seconds later, without their leader, the goblins are defeated. Aces feels dizzy.

She looks up to see Jax coming down the next flight of stairs, he is holding his chest, doubled over, but smiles in seeing his woman and extends his hand in aid. “Aces, baby, are you okay?” And she is too shocked to say anything. “Aces, do not go upstairs, whatever you do, do not go upstairs.” And then he disappears in front of her.

The Old Outpost

The 16th floor is dark save for a single candle light. When Aces is given a headlight by Mentathenis, the floor looks like another tower altogether, a mage tower perhaps. There are the sounds of birds chirping and Mentathenis thinks this may be where T’waat is being held. The party sees a red robed person seated at a desk in the middle of the room, who draws the flame, walls up to the party and introduces himself as Dormin’thal the wizard.

“Ah! You’ve arrived, good. Which one of you is Aces? I’m not sure who you are or why she has taken interest with you so suddenly, but whatever you do, don’t make her upset, she has made a lot of progress and I don’t want a regression.”

The party asks who he is referring to and he says “Magdrea Smartypants, the Goblin Queen.” When Modreg hears this name he asks again “WHO is upstairs?!?” Dormin’thal looks towards the goblin.

He notices Modreg. “Goblin! What are you doing up here? Shouldn’t you be working to better yourself and your people? I’m so sorry, has he been bothering you? Some of the goblins haven’t adjusted well to all the changes.”

Sam in the guise of Sona tells the wizard that Modreg is a member of their party and a hero. To which he responds in awe. “Facinating.”

Mentathenis inquires about the birds and Dormin’thal kindly abliges him, and shows him to the cages. The group sees that T’weet is standing atop of one. Inside, the eladrin can see the magical glow of one of Saranine’s messages. He tells Dormin’thal that the little blue one is his and the red robed man is happy to help his fellow wizard. Mentathenis reads the message and urges the party forward.

Aces is hesitant, but follows as Dormin’thal leads the group up the next two skeletal floors that creak and wave in the rain. They pass two royal red goblin guards and up to the top floor of the goblin tower, rain pours down heavily from above. And a blindingly bright light blazes above.

The Storm

Down below in the pouring rain, Krushi, Ehd, Cliff, Megilwath, Fanidea, Ree’vr and the two pugs are watching the dark tower above when a huge light blooms at the top. They notice that the goblins in the quarry are watching, transfixed. Krushi feels strangely energized and thinks she can hear music on the wind.

The others watch as The halfling lifts herself off the ground and hovers there for a few moments as Sparky and Radar run over to lick the rain off her boot tips. Ehd, Cliff, Megilwath, Fanidea and Ree’vr attempt to voice their concern, cheers, and utter shock at what they are seeing, but with an explosive thunderclap, Krushi fires into the storm above. The concussive blast knocks her friends squarely on their butts.

Magdrea Smartypants

The little goblin turns from the blazing light and walks down the stairs towards Aces, Mentathenis, Modreg, Sam and Dormin’thal. She holds her arms from her sides in a gesture of kindness. “Welcome Aces, I’m glad you have come.”

Dormin’thal taps Mentathenis and points to the light, “That thing! That crystal…is something that I have never seen before! It pulses with light and yet it is not magical, at least not magical in any sense that I can determine…it holds energy though! Warm to the touch! And do you feel it? Hear it? It really is beautiful! Magdrea told me that her clan found the crystal years ago and only within the last two years did it start emitting…well, this! And this is the brightest I’ve seen it! Holy Bahamut!”

Aces thinks she knows what is behind the whole thing and calls the goblin’s feign of friendship. Modreg steps up and says hello to Magdrea, but there is no look of recognition in her eyes. Aces is ready to end it, and quickly, at the head of her maul.

“Are you so ready to die Aces? We can do it as quickly and easily as you like…”

The light above flares in an eye searing pulse, a beam of pure incineration rips across the top of the tower in a fan of white hot death. Before they are cut in two, they are turned to ash. Nothing but black dust remains of the party, drifting into the wind…

Snapping back from her hallucinatio, Aces draws her maul to charge down the goblin when a ball lighting fires out of the sky, exploding the crystal perch, and blowing Aces, Modreg and Magdrea nearly to the edge of the tower. A blade of fire rips past Krushi in the air, turning the rain into a veil of mist.

Darkness.

A light sparkles into existence amid the rubble and Krushi begins to cast another spell, but just before she releases it, Aces dives on top of the thing with her bag of holding. Krushi sighs and drops to the roof of the tower.

Modreg scurries over to Magdrea and helps her up. She appears to be released from the influence of the crystal, and is happy to see him. Krushi can feel her powers fading now that she is cut off from the crystals energy. She asks Aces to take it out but the mul refuses and says it’s too dangerous. Dormin’thal, Mentathenis and Sam join the others and Magdrea, like Krushi, really wants to see the crystal again. Aces tries to lie and say that it was destroyed, but Smartypants calls her bluff and figures that it was taken by the bald woman. Sam and Modreg intervene and persuade the goblin to let it go and return to leading her people with the smarts she already has.

Krushi and Aces want to investigate the crystal’s origins, they get directions to the cave it was dug up in from Magdrea and they head off again, leaving the goblin clans to continue their city planning.

Origin of the Shard

In the old hills of the 38 clans, the party wanders through a few small goblin retirement villages and finds the entrance to the cave. It appears to be an old mine. They look around but can’t find anything out of the ordinary. Krushi requests that Aces show her the crystal again. When she pulls it out, it’s light is shining brightly and starting to regain it’s energy. The mul sets it on the ground and Krushi can feel it’s power flow into her, but too soon, it is ready to launch another attack and Krushi zaps it with a spell in attempts to stop it. Her magic is too powerful though and it is blasted into oblivion. She looks down with a disappointed frown and scoops up the crystal powder that remains of the thing, getting as much back into the bag of holding as she can.

Modreg mentions that this all reminds him of a story about another crystal and tower somewhere to the distant north.

Baldur’s Gate

They all head on to Baldur’s Gate where Mentathenis puts everyone up at the Gatehouse Inn, his go-to quarters in the city. He also brings the rest of the party out to the newly opened Magic Boutique. They run across Gendar from the Seven Pillared Hall and he takes them to his newer and secret underground magic shop. The party spends quite a while digging through the Drow’s stock and in the end, Aces has to be pushed out of the store to get her to stop. After shopping, everyone retires to the Gatehouse Inn for drinks and turns in for the night.

The journey west has been thankfully, encounter free, as though the gods have been watching over the party, or it might just be because there are twelve heavily armed individuals and they scare everything away. The band is on the last leg of their trip west now, only a hundred miles or so from Baldur’s Gate.

Aces and Ree’vr catch their breaths after another flash of memories, this one ending with a crushing wetness of the likes neither of them have ever experienced. During the evenings, along their journey, Aces reads the pages of the Telaric Codex that Ree’vr left for her when she awoke in Iriaebor.

Anyone who as ever traveled the road to Baldur’s Gate from the East can’t say why but the road seems wrong, different somehow but no one in the group can put their finger on it. Something is out of place, the treeline maybe, or the color of the sky perhaps.

A tiny bluejay with a bright orange belly flies out of the sky chirping up a storm and nearly knocks the wind out of Mentathenis. It flops to the ground and he recognizes it as T’weet, one of Saranine’s twin bluejays. There appears to be a small spinning blue magical ring floating around it’s leg. The Eladrin removes it and holds it between his thumb and middle finger. When he snaps. It unscrolls in a burst of floating blue text that can be scrolled just as easily as it’s non-magical counterpart, but can only be seen by the Wizard.

Mentathenis pokes the little bluejay to wake it up and relays the message to the rest of the party and Lythannis leans into the other Eladrin and says “You know, I could think up a few quests you and I can do together that don’t involve T’waat and are far far easier…and give bigger reward.” As they continue over the next hill, Mentathenis works to convince Lythannis that he shouldn’t be jealous.

When the mob crests the hill, the tower Saranine spoke of is unmissable. What was once just a single story, stone building that served as an outpost, has been crudely transformed into a giant teetering monstrosity of a tower. Each of it’s wide levels looks forced upon the level below it and a host of ballista and catapult are shoved into into it’s sides seemingly haphazardly around the length of its height. Its base descends into a quarry filled with hundreds of goblins, they work to continue the tower’s construction. Now it becomes clear why things felt different. The goblins have done a thorough job of clear cutting the surrounding forests, going so far as to rip out their roots in addition. “Trysta would not be pleased.” snarls Mentathenis as he glares at the twisted tower. Modreg stands in awe, as he has never seen such construction undertaken by his kind. “This a great goblin achievement!” he says to Aces. T’weet hops off Mentathenis’ shoulder chirping, and flies towards the top of the tower.

Seeing the hundreds of goblins working in the quarry between them and the front gate of the tower, Aces and Modreg agree that sending him in to do some investigating before charging in may be beneficial. The little goblin steels himself and strolls over to the quarry, attempting to be as inconspicuous as possible. One of the goblins in a two story rickety wooden watch tower calls over to him and asks what he is doing. Modreg says he has a special message to deliver to the tower and the guard goblin replies “You have message for crystal? I give message to crystal, you give to me first, then back to work.” He leans in and touches his forehead to Modreg’s. Immediately he pulls back and says “You have no message for crystal! Why you lie?” Modreg comes up with a quick explanation and the guard lets him pass, but keeps his eye on the strange goblin. He makes his way down into the quarry and explores, discovering that many of the goblins are wearing symbols of formerly rival clans, now joined together as one. He also notes that none of the goblins appear to be slaves, working by their own will save for the slight purple glow in their eyes. He he has access to the tower with no issues, but decides to head back and consult the others.

On his way back, as he is leaving the area of the quarry, the guard goblin watches him intently. When he gets back to the group they decide to try the old pretend prisoner act, and Modreg leads Aces, Mentathenis and Sam back towards the tower. The guard goblin calls out again and Modreg says he is delivering prisoners to the dungeon. They are allowed to pass, and make their way down to the gate, it begins to rain.

The Goblin Tower

Inside the tower, Sam notices the quick release lever for the front gate and points out the rope lining the walls that leads to the next story attached to bells at random intervals, the alarm system most likely. There are a host of goblins on the bottom floor, milling around and playing cards. A larger goblin sits at a small desk near the stairs leading down to the dungeon. Modreg is directed to lead the newly acquired prisoners down the stairs and down below they find a few other goblins in cells. When asked why they are being held captive, they reply that they were tired and could no longer work, so they were brought down into the dungeon to rest. The four move back towards the spiral stairwell and draw their weapons, Aces leads the charge and they engage into combat with the goblins on the first floor. Aces fends the attackers off, Mentathenis rips them to shreds with magic, and Sam works to control the field and keep her friends alive. Modreg sneaks past and around the floor sneakily. One of the goblins manages to sound the alarm but before the quarry workers can run in to aid their comrades, Sam drops the gate locking them out. Modreg moves towards the stairs heading to the second level as four goblin reinforcements make their way down the stairs, he manages to slice the bellies of each one, sending them falling forward and spilling their intestines all over the floor, dead. They find 20 gold on the table, 1 deck of goblin playing cards, 1 leather belt, and the key to tower levels 1-5.

On the second floor they find a goblin bunk room, most of the goblins are sleeping, but one is sitting up in his bed polishing a small gleaming goblin dagger. The four heroes sneak past very quietly to the third level.

On the third floor they find a weapon storage with an unused catapult as well as piles of Goblin swords and armor. One goblin is sleeping in the catapult bowl, aimed out one of the windows. They sneak past and head to the fourth level.

On the fourth floor is a supply room, containing vats of crab paste and padded helmets among other seemingly worthless trinkets and items. A goblin is sleeping in one of the crates with the lid closed snoring loudly. They sneak past and head to the fifth level.

On the fifth level is a large stable area containing cages for hyenas, timber wolves and two large dire wolves. Two goblins are in this room, one of them is mounted on a wolf and the second is cleaning cages. As the party of four engage the wolf rider, the cage cleaner runs to open one of the wolf cages and moves on to another, but he is only able to open the one, before Aces and Mentathenis put him down. The dire wolves attempt to break out of their cages, but Sam moves over and works to sooth them. She succeeds and they lie in their cages quietly. Modreg moves around the room stabbing to death a hyena and getting revenge for his untimely death in the Thunderspire Labyrinth. Aces Mentathenis and Sam finish off the rider and his wolves. They find 2 small squeaky animal toys, 6 spiked collars, 1 dog grooming brush, 4 chewed bones and the key 1 to levels 6-10. They continue to the sixth level.

On the sixth level they find a sign that reads “Mess Hall” This level is a mess of twisting maze-like hallways for no apparent reason whatsoever. Aces leads them through without much effort and along the way they find a small pouch of 50 gold tucked in a corner and a scroll of Fey Passage lost in a dead end. They head to the seventh level.

On the seventh level they find a goblin alchemy lab. hundreds of glowing vials and pipes lay scattered around the tables and floor, bubbling over and dripping. There is one goblin mixing strange glowing potions in this room. They sneak past and head to the eighth level.

On the eighth level they find a large glowing magic circle with two dead goblin bodies in it’s center and two goblin ghosts who float up to the heroes and appear to mouth something which the party can not make out. Mentathenis uses mage hand to disrupt the powder forming the circle on the ground and the magic dissipates, causing the two goblin ghosts to disappear along with the magical effect. They find A pair of Spell Anchor Gloves and Storm Gauntlets. The trap door leading up into the next level is barricaded from the opposite side somehow, even heavily enough that Modreg and all his goblin strength can not pry it open. There is one window on this level and Aces checks outside to see above, it appears to be open to the air on the next floor and she climbs outside the tower into the rain with a grappling hook and rope. On her way there is a loud scraping sound and rumbling, the tower seems to shift and sway a little as something large moves above. When she reaches the next level, it is open fully on one side and can see two large walls crushing together a large amount of goblin junk into a bundle. Some sort of trash compactor she thinks. The two walls slowly pull away and the third wall begins to push the trash pillar towards her. She drops back down to the eighth level as the giant pillar flies past and crashes to the ground below. Sam understands what is happening and tells her friends to try the trap door again quickly, now it is loose, they climb to the ninth level.

On the ninth level they emerge from the trap door behind the walls of the compactor and find 10 goblins turning huge wheels and pulleys to work the crude machine. The goblins stop and turn towards the intruders.

After emerging from the sewers of Iriaebor the group watches as Shade teleports away again. This time, the pull of it’s energy does not cause quite the spectacle that it did over Arabel. They realize that the Shadovar didn’t flatten Iriaebor, and can still hear voices from the village.

Cassi wants to return home and see if Eve is alright. Ehd’s siblings also want to return and see if there is anything to sweep up. The Solivan house is still there. The door to the cellar is covered in blood and bits of bone. Cassi gasps, “Oh my baby! Evie!” Around Eve’s “coffin” box is absolute carnage. With the exception of a single drop of black blood on her cheek, the rest of the inside of her box is pristine, and she is wearing a white dress, There is nothing left to kill. “Such a sweet little angel, let’s not disturb her.” Says Cassi as she closes the lid and leads everyone out.

The Solivans decide to take their chances and stay in Iriaebor to fix the house and everyone says their goodbyes.

As the band continues on their journey towards the sword coast, Something sweeps into Aces’ mind, another memory perhaps…She notices that Ree’vr is looking at her. It appears that he is having the same recollection.

The Vision

Aces finds herself sitting in a strange tavern, or bar, or something. There are dancing girls and it is massively crowded with all sorts of strange creatures. Vaguely familiar music plays from a performer she can not see. Across the table from her sits a man with a wide brimmed hat and a crooked smile. Half his face is hidden and he holds five cards in his hand.

Filling the seats between she and him sit a brown eyed brunette woman in her mid thirties who has folded but still appears worried. Her eyes meet Aces’ for a moment and she tosses her a defeated smile.

To her right, a bluish tinged and oily creature with a face-full of writhing tentacles, taps its long fingers on it’s own face-down cards, it’s big black eyes dart back and forth between Aces and the man in the hat. It appears perplexed at it’s bad luck.

On the other side, a strikingly beautiful girl with jet black hair and almond shaped faintly glowing eyes leans far over the table clapping her hands in excited anticipation.

To her right, a half humanoid, half animal. As if someone cut the torso off an elf and sewed it to the neck of a four legged hoofy thing, this one appears to be the dealer. Aces remembers the Jester on the bottom of the deck at the start of the deal.

She looks again at her hand, and holds a Queen of Spades a Queen of Diamonds and a Jack of Spades, she is dealt a Jack of Diamonds and a King of Hearts. The wide brimmed hat awaits her show and as she reveals her cards, the crowd awes.

When the wide brimmed hat slowly lowers his own cards, a rumble and loud crashing sound rips through the entire room, causing everything to shake, no one else in the establishment seems to notice or care. The cards hit the table, and as his hand pulls away, Aces can see them. The crowd whispers “All four Aces!”

The front doors are thrown open, a gust of icy wind blows in, and the crowd turns in their direction, the music stops. A woman’s voice screams out. “Aces!” a clear line of sight is parted between she and the door as people are literally thrown out of the way.

A wretched, olive skinned woman with a tattered, webbed black robe, long, dark dread locks and one open clouded white eye stares in Aces’ direction. She appears bathed in shadow and dark tendrils stretch across the floor from under her dressing. She moves towards the Mul with a gnarled finger outstretched and she can feel something digging in her mind causing her to become frozen in her gaze. She glides up to meet Aces eye to eye and whispers in her ear “Sona…needs your help.” She looks deep into the woman’s soul, and her lips peel apart in a hideous grin revealing sharpened teeth and blackened gums. A dark spittle drips down her chin, and with a cackle, everything around Aces turns to red. Mutilated bodies cover the floor, entrails hang from the ceiling and drip down the walls.

The woman continues her maniacal laugh and Aces feels a pressure in her mind and body. Blood sprays out of her every pore and her flesh rips apart like wet parchment. The walls around her explode away and the wretched woman howls in pain as an unseen force lifts her into the air and shreds her to pieces before Aces’ eyes. As her heart slows and her vision grows dark, she catches one last look at Sigil and the silhouette of a robed figure, standing in mid air, a crown of wicked blades wreathes it’s head.

Cold of Sigil

Aces wakes up to the sound of a baby crying. The diffused light filters through the slit windows of her Kip. Her pet inix, Jack, Looks up at her lazily from under a pile of blankets, doing it’s best to keep warm. It yawns, tongue curling in his maw, and lowers it’s head back down, returning to it’s slumber. She knows that this past year has been hard on the lizard, as it struggles to keep warm.

Through the window, she can see the vertigo inducing ring of Sigil through the light fog. It’s been a year and she still gets cage struck from time to time. Below her window a plump woman dressed in an extravagant gown attempts to calm her child.

Aces can see Jenn, her dark brunette hair blowing behind her as she moves with purpose towards her stairs…

For the past year since landing her butt in the cage, Aces has been working as a bouncer along with Ree’vr working as a bartender at a Sensebar named the “Tiefling Princess” located in the Clerk’s Ward of Sigil. It is owned and run by a githzerai named Ter’lin. The bar features gambling, drinking and dancers of all types, the star of which is a Tiefling girl named Ember. It is situated at the edge of the city in the Clerk’s Ward and boasts a window that supposedly faces outside the wall of Sigil, though nothing can be seen through it but a horizon-less smoggy sky.

When the three came through, Ter’lin helped she, Ree’vr and D’evon up and offered them all jobs working at the Princess.

They learned that they stood too close to an unstable astral conduit rift for too long, got the suck, and when it broke down, they were ejected into Sigil. No one knows why they exist, but some believe them to be rips in the multiverse caused by powerful magic at some point in time. There are twelve points around Sigil where these ejections happen. The one from the large cave on Athas ejects someone through the wall of the The Princess and out onto the street.

Jenn Knocks on the door and Ree’vr answers, greeting her warmly with his clicks and motions. Aces Wander over and welcomes her as well. Jenn let’s the two outsiders know that she has a lead from the gambler Fait, on a portal that may possibly send them back to their home world of Athas. She also tells them about an issue that she overheard earlier in the day with Ember having a necklace and a bank of jink stolen by a group of Plague Rats, a street gang that have moved in from the Hive.

Aces steps over to attempt to help the plump woman calm her baby, and sings a song from her youth in the slave pits of Athas to do so. She brings up the topic of the Plague Rats and the woman is disgusted by the mention of such, telling the three that she has seen them hanging out regularly in an ally behind “Angel’s.” A rival Sensebar of The Tiefling Princess. Through the crowded street glides Scribnib, who is bid hello by Jenn and Aces. The Mind Flayer drifts over to the gathering and probes their minds, offering a hello in return, and is met with field’s of daisies from Jenn. As the group talks about the Rat problem, a Dabus comes up to trim the Razorvine growing dangerously quickly into Aces’ and Ree’vr’s door jam. The four decide to head over to the alley to see what they can find out. On their way, they run across D’evon, who offers up a “Morning Losers!” on her way to Angels. Aces and Jenn are quick to throw out insults about the woman and her new position as star dancer at the other club. She is just as quick to throw insults back and eventually she makes her way into the club and the four head around back.

Jimbo and The Plague Rats

It doesn’t take long for them to find the alley that the woman was talking about. There are small scratched symbols of a diseased Plague Rat on many of the buildings in the area, and sure enough there are four of them hanging near a pile of barrels and crates. They greet the group and have a polite conversation about Ember’s missing necklace. The one doing most of the talking they learn is named Jimbo and he seems to be telling the truth when he says he hasn’t heard of any necklace stolen on the part of the Rats, but he will be sure to investigate further and report back with any information he can regarding the lost jewelery. The two groups say farewell and Aces and Jenn decide it best to hunt down Ember to question her.

The Princess and a Xeo

In the Princess, Ter’lin finishes pouring a drink for a regular and says hello to the four as he passes them by to go sit with Meeks at his personal table. They can overhear him complaining to the Bariur about the deteriorating state of the ward, The Angels’ competition and the Plague Rats, their typical topics of conversation.

Raszcal, a small ferret creature called a Xeo or Quickling dressed in a little leather vest and carrying a few dozen tiny throwing knives, hops up on a table in front of Aces, Jenn, Ree’vr and Scribnib to say hello. He is excited to see his friends, and wants to know what they are up to. They all know the Xeo to be exceptionally skilled in the art of stealth and information gathering, and ask the little guy if he would be up for a bit of investigation into the dealings of the Plague Rats in exchange for some shiny trinkets and berries. He quickly agrees and bounces from table to table on his way out the door.

Rat Den

When Raszcal returns about what he discovered and he says he can lead them to an entrance to their hideout. There are a few trap doors hidden in back alleys and he managed to find one of them. He tells them that their lair is a maze of twisting passages that extends nearly under the Princess itself, and that there are a few dozen of the gang members wandering about down there. He came to only one door that he was unable to get through. Aces finds this to be interesting, and asks that the Xeo lead them on.

They head back through the alleys to the trap door and Aces opens it to drop in, landing very nearly on a table with four Plague Rat members playing dice. They greet the large woman warmly and invite her friends down as well. They ask if she is interested in playing dice and she turns down their offer saying she has business with Jimbo. One of them calls out for Jimbo who wanders in from a side passage to greet the visitors. He says he questioned the majority of the Rats and none of them knows anything about a stolen necklace. Aces starts to get the sense that someone may be trying to smear the Plague Rats “respectable” name, and offers to look into the matter.

They leave the Den to return to the Princess and find Ember, when they find her not present, they decide it best to call on her at home…

Ember’s Kip

Aces knocks on the door of Ember’s Kip and after much struggling and knocking things over, she cracks the door and glares through the many locks holding it shut. She does nothing to hide her annoyed state that Aces has come to her kip to fetch her again.

Ree’vr and Scribnib decide to search around back and see if anything is going on and can hear another body inside, also sounding frustrated and annoyed. They don’t sense an immediate threat, and move around through the dancer’s front door to join the others.

Jenn persuades Ember to allow them entrance to have some drinks and talk. and they all sit around her large table. Jenn knows her way around Ember’s kip well after having catered and mixed drinks for many of her after hour parties and proceeds to make everyone some Tea.

A demon appears in a doorway from many of Ember’s bedrooms and looks positively mortified at the group gathered in the tableroom staring him down in his shorts. Ember teasingly asks the hulking beast to join them and he does so, awkwardly.

In questioning the red skinned Tiefling she offers up the same story that Jenn heard from her earlier in the morning. Her necklace was stolen by the Plague Rats. Aces can tell that she is hiding something and asks her again. Jenn also urges her to tell the truth and after some hesitation, she does.

What actually happened, was she was given the necklace by an admirer the previous night, and when she left, she pulled it off and crushed it under her foot then kicked it aside in a drain. When she was visiting the Princess earlier for her jink, the same admirer was there and she had to make up an elaborate story as to why she no longer had his cheap necklace on her person and never would again.

When the four are satisfied with her truth, they make sure she will be in on her dancing shift and bid her and her friend farewell, heading back to the Sensebar.

Fait and the Game

Ree’vr and Jenn head behind the bar to start their bar shifts, Aces takes up post at the doors and Scribnib enjoys probing Raszcal’s thoughts, while massaging the ferret with gentle mental tentacles.

It’s not long before Fait shows his fashionable hat and face in the bar, he nods to Aces on the way in. The two talk about pricing on his information to her portal and he quotes her around 4,000 jink for both the portal and the gate key. He asks if Aces would be up for some cards and she agrees. As they play, Jenn forms some pictures in her mind that Scribnib can pick up on from his seat in the corner. She expresses to him that he should pay attention to the minds of those who can see Fait’s cards and relay the information to Aces. The bar gradually fills, and there is a large amount of Plague Rats visiting.

Meeks sits down to deal, and an hour later, the pot has grown quite large, and Fait admits that he is cleaned out, but wants to play one more hand, raising the stakes just a bit. The Tiefling Princess for the Portal. If Fait wins, the Princess becomes his, with the stipulation that Jenn keeps her job and is promoted to bar manager. Fait agrees. If Aces wins, she gets the location of the portal, the gate key and all the jink on the table. Aces goes to persuade Ter’lin about the deal, explaining that in his later years, the bar has caused more trouble than it’s worth for him and she would give him the entire pot of Jink to retire with. Ter’lin is won over and urged Aces to play out the hand and win.

When Fait slowly lowers his own cards, a rumble and loud crashing sound rips through the entire room, causing everything to shake, no one else in the establishment seems to notice or care. The cards hit the table, and as his hand pulls away, Aces can see them. The crowd whispers “All four Aces!”

The front doors are thrown open, a gust of icy wind blows in, and the crowd turns in their direction, the music stops. A woman’s voice screams out. “Aces!” a clear line of sight is parted between she and the door as people are literally thrown out of the way.

Aces wakes up to the sound of a baby crying. She jumps out of bed, and this time, greets Ree’vr and Jenn at the door and before either of them can utter a word. Aces runs out into the foggy streets of Sigil with Jenn and the Thri’kreen in tow, picking up Scribnib who is perplexed by all the rushing. She avoids the distraction of Ember and her necklace and leads the four directly into the Den with the Plague Rats, plays a few games of dice, and with the help of her Illithid, she wins nearly every game and walks out with a large amount of the Plague Rat’s Jink.

She arranges to purchase the bar from Ter’lin and pays for her friend’s drinks until the time that Fait shows up that evening. She sits down to play with him but is careful to watch the gambler to see if he is cheating. It doesn’t appear so, but she catches, out of the corner of her eye, Meeks’ subtle hand move across the deck.

She finishes the hand but stops the game before the big one where the wretched woman appears. She gathers her friends and heads outside to wait for the rumble. Sure enough, it comes, and through the wall a Gith is ejected into the street. Aces turns and crushes the confused Gith and is relieved it is not the nightmare woman.

They all head back inside, Jenn and Ree’vr return to the bar and Aces approaches Meeks to speak with him. He agrees and she leads him out behind the Princess to confront him on his cheating. Scribnib ducks into a shadow to watch the conversation, ready to back the Mul up. Meeks denies the accusations at first but eventually admits that he was bought out weeks ago. His family was set up for life. Ter’lin could retire and everyone wins.

From around the corner stroll four members or the Rats. Scribnib glides from the shadows and mind blasts the gang members, who each draw their blades. Ree’vr and Jenn run out to lend a weapon and very quickly one of the Rats get’s his brain sucked out and consumed by the Mind Flayer. The others yield in defeat and sit quietly until the matter can be resolved. Ter’lin comes walking out expecting to speak with Meeks alone and sounds much more well spoken than usual. Aces and Jenn turn their attention back to the Bariur and want the name of the man who bought him. Before he can answer, Ter’lin slices the man’s throat. Aces pours a healing potion down his gullet and revives him. Meeks says it was the Leader of the Plague Rats, and points to Ter’lin. They stand up to Ter’lin and intimidate him, causing the Leader of the Plague Rats to remove his Ter’lin mask and confess. “I would have gotten away with it if it wasn’t for you pesky kids!”

Jenn marches up to the man and demands to know where the real Ter’lin is. The man says he is quite safe and is willing to lead them to his location.

Mount Celestia (Almost)

The Leader of the Plague Rats leads the group back into the Rat Den and to the locked door where he opens it with a key. Inside are four illusionists channeling imagery around what appears to be the real Ter’lin in bed with two extremely hot succubi. When they are interrupted, the illusionists drop the show and the succubus wings and tails pop out of existence. Ter’lin pops up laughing “My friends! Ohhh! Thank you so much for such a wonderful vacation! I haven’t felt this renewed in a long time, what are you doing on Mount Celestia?!” Jenn explains to the man that he was kidnapped, and he has trouble believing the story. Stating that he “Won the sweepstakes for a vacation on Mount Celestia.” After a while they make him understand that he was had, and he admits that it’s the best “hadding” he’s ever experienced and begs of them to allow him to finish the illusory vacation for the remaining two days. The girls agree and the illusionists also agree, the Plague Rats don’t mind either as the room they were holding him in was just storage.

Scribnib takes leadership of the Plague Rats and all their assets, including the Angels sensebar.

On and On

Aces buys Fait’s portal map outright and they collect the 3.5 cranium rat tails in order to open it. Aces leads, Jenn, Ree’vr, Scribnib, Ter’lin and Raszcal to the location marked with she and Ree’vr’s names. It appears to be a mirror frame that has long been without it’s reflective parts intact, a small amount of sand lays below the skeletal frame. As she approaches, the portal opens and glows blue. A swirling vortex leads into the nether. Everyone bids the two farewell and Scribnib expresses his intent to accompany the two outsiders to Athas, they agree and Jenn gives Ree’vr a tight hug and nearly tears up in saying goodbye.

As the three dive into the portal, Jenn, Razscal and Ter’lin watch as a small amount of sand and water pours into the room from the portal. The Xeo cocks an eyebrow in confusion, looks up at Jenn and they both shrug.

The Princess Restored

On the way back to the Princess with Jenn and Raszcal, Ter’lin finds a small piece of paper blown against his leg. He snatches it up and turns it over, his eyes grow large when he realizes what it is…

Excitedly, he climbs a ladder outside the Princess to the magical glowing words that make up the signage for the Sensebar. When he sticks the piece of paper back onto the sign, more glowing words magically appear, changing the full name of the bar back to it’s original…

THETIEFLING
Sensebar at the Edge of Sigil
Starring PRINCESS Ember
(With a Window!)

As Ter’linath Delraxianus’itanisan climbs down, Ember places her arm around him and escorts the old but recently renewed githzerai into the bar with a look of happiness plastered across his face. Jenn nods to Raszcal and he scurries up to the sign to remove the magi-note once again. This time, he runs into the bar and over to the window looking outside the wall, wads up the paper and tosses it through, where it blinks out of existence, he brushes off his paws and shines an adorable toothy grin back at Jenn.

Jenn winks at the Xeo, walks behind the bar, gives it a good wipe down and yells out.

“Okay all you cutters! Welcome to The Tiefling Princess! Who wants a drink on the house!?”

After finishing their meal the party continues to talk about their next moves. Cassi and Cliff finish their play in the back yard and she returns to let the friends know that she had Peggy prepare the 3rd floor guest beds for their night’s stay at the Solivan house.

When it is time, everyone heads to their bedrooms. Cliff is invited to stay in Cassi’s bed with her. Aces and Ree’vr talk at a table in the next room and everyone else meditates or sleeps in the guest bedroom.

Just after midnight, the party feels a pressure in the air and the shadows in the room seem to get a little bit darker. Mentathenis immediately recognizes the strangeness from the battle in the Arabel graveyard, when Shade appeared overhead.

He alerts the others, and a group of zombies and skeletons rise from the shadows of the 3rd floor inside the Solivan house. No sooner do they begin to hear the tell tale signs of an all out attack on the city of Iriaebor. Over the screams of the women and children of the city, they can hear a booming voice, the voice they know to be Pyraxis’ who yells out “Find the blade, bring it to me!”

Aces, Krushi, Mentathenis, Fanidea and Modreg spring into action while Megilwath, Cliff, Sam, Ehd, Lythannis and Ree’vr help Cassi gather her things and protect she and Oopsee from danger. Terrlen pulls out his map to plot an exit and Cassi quickly brushes it aside to tell him she knows the way out of her own house. Mentathenis and Krushi launch their devastating magical abilities upon the undead intruders while Fanidea and Aces attempt to keep the evil creatures away from the others. Modreg sneaks around in the shadows to help distract where needed for an upper hand. Without too much trouble the mass of undead is destroyed and the party heads downstairs to help Ehd siblings.

On the second floor of then Solivan House, the heroes encounter more zombies, three burning skeletons, two chillborn zombies, and two skeleton warriors. After finding Mana hiding in a corner near her bed, Aces quickly makes her way through the rooms and around the main staircase to locate Brandis and Peggy to make sure they are okay and the rest of the party follows to wipe up. At one point during the battle Aces flies a zombie through the banister to the first floor, it returns with five runespiral demons in tow. Fanidea manages to take control of one of the chillborn zombies and use it against her enemies and Krushi and Mentathenis use their destructive magic to wipe out the evil creatures a few at a time.

As they head down the main staircase to meet Garren, they are spotted by a heavily armored knight of shade standing in the front door threshold, who’s eyes glow a deep purple at sight of Fanidea. It whispers “Drow.” and in the distance the party can hear Pyraxis yell out again, “Get the blade, I am coming!”

Sune’s Intervention

Suddenly Mana stops short and her eyes begin to glow. Her childlike image blurs and is partially replaced with a beautiful grown woman. Hair of orange flame licking about her face and body. Though the light is blinding, the party finds themselves transfixed upon her perfection.

In a soothing tone, it the image speaks, “Stand strong, for even the shadow of the Mistress of the Night can not block out all light. My gift is upon you now. Smite the denizens of the dark and be free of this death.”

Orange flames surround each of the heroes. they feel stronger, faster and more focused, the urge to create a little chaos seeps into their minds. Their bodies change slightly, physical forms are brought closer to perfection for each, clothing and armor become spotlessly clean to a degree they have never seen before. Mentathenis and Lythannis seem unaffected and this prompts the fairer eladrin to nudge the other “There really IS no room for improvement in that department.” he says with a wink.

Fanidea However, howls in pain as the ethereal orange engulfs her. The drow woman’s dark skin begins to wrinkle and sag, her bone structure shifts, she becomes a wretched shadow of her dark elven beauty. She falls to her knees and stares beyond the physical realm in effort to focus. Her eyes turn a blood red just before a web explodes around her, cocooning her entire form. Then, as the fires of Sune are extinguished, the webs turn to black and begin to drip from her body. Creating a puddle of sludge at her feet.

She stands, slightly out of breath. Her youthful appearance returned. “If someone would be SO kind as to warn me the next time one of your goody goody dieties intervenes and throws their…”blessings" around. I would greatly appreciate it. Oh, and don’t step in that, unless you want to be a permanent resident here, it’s a little sticky."

Mana returns to the form of a child. “Oh Sune! Ehd! I think she just talked to me!”

Ehd smiles proudly “That’s my little sister!” he yells.

Symernia, Nightbringer

As the party moves to engage the undead on the first floor with the gift of Sune. They can hear the sound of Pyraxis’ footfalls, moving closer through the city of Iriaebor. Garren fights off a pair of runespiral demons and yells to his family “Take the sewers out! Go! I can hold them!” Cassi turns to Ehd and tells him “We have to get Eve!”

With the blessing, Aces, Mentathenis and Krushi are able to do a lot of damage early on in the fight, though once the gift has dissipated, they struggle to fend off the remaining enemies inside the house. Aces and Krushi are knocked unconscious during the chaos. Sam jumps into the fight and manages to help Aces back to consciousness.

Through the windows of the Solivan house, the heroes can see a glow of flame approaching. Pyraxis stops and looks to the succubus at his side. “Symernia my pet, retrieve the blade, kill any who stand in your way.” She replies in a seductive voice, “With pleasure Pyraxis, the Nightbringers are eternal.”

Sam, overhearing the demon’s exchange, thinks to throw Sona’s Songblade through the front door, in hopes that maybe it’s the blade they are looking for. It sticks in the ground at their feet and Pyraxis is confused at why people are throwing weapons at him. Symernia walks forward to pick it up and looks it over. She turns to show it to the Balor and shrugs, sticking it in her belt. She walks towards the front doors.

Ehd picks up Krushi and leads the rest of the group through the main foyer and into the kitchen area and out a window to the sewer drain. On his way out of the main entry, Brandis stops to cast a spell. Aces and Fanidea are able to regain consciousness and Mentathenis continues to blast through the undead. When Brandis finishes his casting, a glowing barrier flies up around the house, preventing Symernia from getting through. She begins to pound on it relentlessly, slowly weakening it. Sam runs back through the entry way to meet back up with Aces and Fanidea and Mentathenis. As a group, they slowly make their way through the kitchen trying desperately to keep the enemies at bay. Garren appears to be killed under the attacks of the undead and demons. Outside Peggy removes his wooden leg and pulls out his flute to begin playing a tune. For a few moments, the undead and demons seem confused and start bumping into the walls.

Symernia however is not effected by such weak magic and she smashes through Brandis’ barrier. The front of the Solivan House is blown in under the force of her attacks. In a single bat of her leathery wings she soars through the entry way and into the kitchen to land behind Fanidea. The Nightbringer lifts the drow into the air by her neck and turns her to look into her eyes. The succubus’ bladed wings lash out and skewer her prey from both sides dropping the drow to the floor and holds out her claws as if to catch something. Then, with a look of rage she asks Aces, in a rabid hiss she screams. “Where is the other drow, the one with the Wraith Blade?” Aces feigns clueless, but the demon is not fooled. “Drow! If you do not present yourself to me I will kill each of your friends, ever so slowly, and then when their hearts stop, I will rip every vein from your body and strangle you to death with them. Then I will take the blade, and bring your corpse home to use as a puppet!”

Sam jumps in to ask why the demon wants it, and she replies that it is Pyraxis who wants it. Sam explains that the blade can not be taken without it binding to her, and that the Balor would have to kill her to make it his. Aces continues and tells her “We only have one shard and it’s not even that powerful. The other shards aren’t even on this plane, but one was probably on Athas somewhere.” Symernia smiles and thanks them for the information, then she zips past them to find her way into the sewers, behind the rest of the group. Aces tries to swing at Symernia but she easily parries her attack with a wing. Fanidea regains consciousness by the magic of her medallion. She stands, extremely pissed off.

Sona’s Necklace

Symernia flies into the sewer and makes a quick left at the first bend, she almost misses a second branch back to the right, but the glow of a torchlight catches her attention. She twists back, and ducks under some attacks launched by the pests following her in at the entrance. A magic missile slams her in the back, searing one of her wings and causing her to find footing on the ground for a moment. She beats her wings to lift again, bearing down on the group ahead. From behind her she can hear more casting and quickly dives into a pool below her.

The water is thick, murky, and something large swims past her legs. Squinting through the liquid, she can make out a dark shape. It turns towards her in a flash, and just as it’s jaws widen to snap down, she pushes off the bottom and explodes out of the pool, the giant sewer alligator follows her upward but she whips her tail to swat it’s toothy maw aside. Another magic missile slams into her belly and she feels the pounding of fists on the backs of her legs.

In a blur of six attacks, she rips into the crazed alligator sending pieces of reptile flying across the room and into the water. She can taste the creatures’ blood on her lips and hardly notices the sting of a third magic missile and more beating from behind. Again the Nightbringer cuts into her attacker. This time thoroughly dicing its body into small chunks.

Now only a few yards from her prey, she pushes through the meager attacks of those between she and the drow. Before her feet touch the ground, her claws are tight around his neck. She savors each puncture of his flesh. Her bladed wing tips move in a dance of streaming blood. As she feels his heart begin to slow, she notices a light shining on his chest, something attached to a chain. An unbearable pain rolls over the succubus, she feels as though her flesh is being stripped from her and bones being flung in all directions. She feels what her victims have. Unable to focus, she wildly flails about trying to hit whatever she can in attempts to free herself of the torture. More attacks hit her from all sides, now easily avoiding her defenses.

She flaps her wings to fly away but finds herself quickly thrown underwater, unable to move. She struggles, her breath nearly gone, The murky green of the water starts to darken, slowly fading to black. With her lungs burning up, she attempts one last kick off the floor, and it works, she launches herself up and into the darkness above slamming onto the roughly cobbled passage of the sewer. Her ribs ache, and her darkvison is only slowly beginning to return. She expects to be slaughtered, then and there, but no attacks come.

Panicked she screams out in a feeble attempt to threaten her unseen enemies. “I have all the information I need, Athas! The Shadovar will get the shard on Athas, and I will kill each and every one of you!”

She only hears the sound of footsteps down one of the corridors and tries to force herself up in effort to chase them down. Before the demon girl can move, she feels a snap on her lower leg and is pulled back into the water. Though severely weakened, Symernia is able to kill the second alligator before it can rip off her leg.

She claws her way out of the pool and rolls to her side, catching her breath. Standing up she wobbles and falls against a wall. The vision of the necklace around the drow’s neck shines in her minds eye. She tries to push past the blaring chromatic light and sees a beautiful mystic quartz stone. A woman’s voice sounds in her head. “Take my necklace, let this be a symbol of my love for you. May it protect you from darkness, no matter what happens, I will always be yours.”

Lythannis and Mentathenis take to the sky on Celestine to survey the floating city and test it’s defenses. Krushi and Aces notice that the remaining undead and shadow spreaders slip back into the shadows and everyone in the area can feel a pressure building in the air. The rubble of Arabel is drawn up into a vortex towards the city. The Eladrin feel the pull as well and Celestine struggles against it’s draw. A band of gargoyles flies out of Shade and circles in it’s defense. The structure turns to black and disappears into a point causing everything in the air to explode outward. The party on the ground is blown backwards and have to find cover from the rocketing debris. Celestine is flung forward over herself, and the two Eladrin are thrown through the trees and crash to the ground, the Pegasus with them.

The shock wave continues to roll over Aces. She begins to feel sick as it falls into a rhythm and causes her heart to speed to a race.

Awakening

A searing pain on the back of her head causes her to wince. The pounding becomes clearer, the sound of a thousand stomping feet all in unison. The clouds and rain are gone now, giving way to a blazing yellow orange colored sky. A giant sun looms overhead. It’s corona wreathed in fire. While it’s flame burns blindingly bright it’s core is blackened and dark. The top of Kalak’s multi colored ziggurat intersects its lower edge..

Each stomp from the stands sends ripples across the arena floor, the searing sand burns against her back as a shadow falls over. Aces recognizes him. Jax. Her friend, trainer, fighting partner, lover, and father of Sona, her newborn daughter, he extending his hand to help her.

“On your feet Aces baby. We ain’t outta this yet!

His sculpted arm flexes and with little effort, he pulls her to her feet. He then turns to face their enemy. As she looks past him, she realizes they are surrounded by other gladiators, both dead and alive.

Aces recalls that the odds are against her this day. This is the fight of her life. Her final fight, live or die, on the sands of this arena. Reunion with her child, the first-ever born child of two Mul, are only a few more glorious kills away. Both she and Jax spent their entire life savings of ceramic. Fifteen years of winning arena battles and gambling, to buy Sona out of slavery upon her birth. Their allies and friends, two ‘Kreen named Ree’vr and Nee’sa took care of the transaction and once the two Mul are freed, Ree’vr will guide them to the location of Nee’sa and Sona.

Aces struggles to shake off her dream of freedom, otherworldly places and strange characters, and against five other gladiators she and Jax are overwhelmed. They manage to take out two of them, but Aces is knocked unconscious, again. Jax to flies into a rage, and takes out the remaining few, then races to his lover’s side to wake her up.

The crowd of their section of the Tyr arena cheers, and from the gates, two new challengers emerge. The two recognize them as Sh’reevot the Dray, and his human apprentice, Tiernan.

The Dray barks orders at the human woman and she moves in to net Aces. Jax intercepts Sh’reevot and the fight gets bloody quickly. Aces is still unfocused, but is able to injure Tiernan before she is again knocked unconscious. Jax continues to beat in Sh’reevot’s head and chest until the scaled one is killed, and then The Mul turns to Tiernan and crushes her head with his Warhammer. Jax helps Aces up.

The horns of victory are sounded and the crowd quiets to the voice of the announcer.

“Two gladiators have fallen! Alas! There can only be one released of a freedom match! Continue slaves! Show us who will walk out those gates, and who will stain the ochre in crimson!

Jax at first, refuses to face Aces. Then hesitantly, he turns and looks into her eyes, with a sigh and then a grin. The grin that tickles her heart.

“They won’t let you live if this looks thrown baby. Tell Sona that her daddy died a hero, and her mother is the most beautiful creature to ever grace the sands of Athas. Now come at me, and make me proud woman.”

Aces knows what she has to do and steels herself. She Hooks her maul under the lifeless body of Tiernan and flings it against the wall of the arena, spraying her blood into the crowd and sending them into a riot of excitement. Knowing that Jax always swings for the head and chest, she manages to dodge every one of his attacks and finishes him off in a couple of swings. As Jax hits the ground, his muscles relax and he gives her one last wink before his eyes close. The sound of the crowd is muffles, hardly able to hear the announcer, she unceremoniously find a wooden sword shoved into her hands. The arena gates are opened and she is escorted out. As she approaches her staging cell, it feels like only minutes ago she was inside, a slave. she can almost see the image herself with Jax, just as they had been before the fight.

Tizz’ler, the arena staging slave and friend of Aces and Jax walks by her side, escorting her through the staging pit towards THE exit of the arena. This is the exit she has never been through, never seen, and only heard about.

Tizz’ler attempts to comfort the Mul on their way through the underbelly of the arena. He reminds her of her daughter and asks her about the promise she and Jax made to him if they were ever to get free, they would find a way to free him. He also talks about his sister Sizz’ler, who work at an herb shop in the Elven Market. He tells her that she would be able to help her with a place to stay until she adjusts to a life of freedom. Aces says she will honor their promise as soon as she can as they reach the gates into the city. She hesitates for a moment before stepping out into the free air.

Dressed in a dirtied tan hooded robe the Thri’Kreen, Ree’vr stands just beyond the doors. Aces can tell by his antennae movements he is pleased to see her, but he looks past in an effort to locate Jax. When he can’t find him, his eyes search her for answers. His antennae stop moving and slowly droop to the sides in painful understanding and he moves to hug her with his four chitinous arms. Aces knows this is something Thri’Kreen only do to members of their clutch. Those they hold in the highest regard. But without hesitation, and without attempting to keep one arm free with a weapon in claw, the insectoid holds her.

Aces leads Ree’vr to Sizz’ler’s herb shop and they talk to the woman about Tizz’ler. She mentions having saved up a large amount of ceramic from working at the herb shop and selling her body but doesn’t think she has enough to buy his freedom. Aces ensures her that when coupled with her diplomatic skills, it just might be.

They all return to the arena and ask the guards to fetch the slave manager. When he emerges, Aces proceeds to bargain with the stubborn man and manages to pursuade him to part with Tizz’ler for 10,500 ceramic, around 1,000 less than Sizz’ler had planned for, saving her some coin.

The Mul, ’Kreen and two elves buy supplies and head out of the city of Tyr. As they turn the corner to see through the great arena gates and into the vast wastes of the Table Lands, Aces realizes that this is the farthest distance her eyes have ever lay upon. The world stretches out before them and fades almost seamlessly into the yellow orange sky.

Ree’vr conveys to the group, that Sona and Nee’sa are safe, hidden, and wait for them in a large abandoned cave at the base of the Ringing Mountains. He wants to travel into the eve, and half to the mid dark, then make camp for the cold. Towards red up, they will continue on, and find covered shelter before the high burn. They should get to the cave sometime in the next eve.

They travel through the afternoon and during early dark, they set up a camp in a sandy depression surrounded by rocks. Ree’vr and Aces stay awake and talk under the sickly yellow green light of the two moons Ral and Guthay when they are raided by a group of starving gith looking for a meal. They cry out and attack jumping about and slicing wildly, but Aces and Ree’vr kill them off one by one. Tizz’ler watches and cowers near the camp fire, and Sizz’ler sleeps through the entire thing.

Just before red up, they continue on and encounter a blind Inix with three hatchlings in tow, they attempt to feed the creature but it appears to be picky with it’s meals. Aces, thinking the three Inix babies will be hard pressed to survive under the protection of a blind parent, snatches one of them up and takes it with her.

That night they reach the mouth of the cave and Aces thinks it may have been a lair of a Mekillot at some point judging by it’s size. As they enter, they are attacked by a silent assassin. Tizz’ler and Sizz’ler retreat towards the darkness in search of Nee’sa and Sona for safety. As the three fight, Aces tries to find out who the woman is and why she is trying to kill them. The woman does not answer. Aces can hear the sound of a baby crying and turns to catch a glance of Nee’sa with the little Sona in her arms cradling her tightly watching the fight.

Suddenly, a reality distorting ripple bursts through the cave from entrance to end towards where Nee’sa and Sona stand in wait. The three fighters are ripped back towards the mouth of the cave. and find themselves tumbling and falling through what appears to be a tunnel of swirling blue. Stars zip past them like grains of sand in a storm.

The three continue to fight as best they can in the midst of what is happening, but then the assassin, D’evon, slings her blades and says she is done. In judging their current situation, she feels there may no longer be any money in killing her target.

The tunnel begins to collapse and they can feel themselves slowing down. The twisting blue nearly fades away entirely before the three are ripped violently in another direction, crashing through a wall and out into a busy city street.

As Aces tries to get her bearings, she mistakenly glances down the cobbled road she lies upon. her eyes follow it’s zig zagged path up, up, up into the distance until it is lost among other criss crossing streets and bizarre architecture. The horizon is once again, non-existent. In glimpsing the whole of the ring, it’s reality falls over her like an impossibly large slave collar and just before she passes out, a humanoid silhouette appears over her.

“Welcome to the cage berk!”

House Solivan

Aces awakens to the sound of a baby crying out. She sits up in her cozy bed and sees a disgruntled male child staring back at her. She attempts to hand the child it’s sucker but it refuses and just glares. A gust of cool wind blows through an open window and a pile of cloth scraps blows into the Muls lap, she picks one up and discovers them to be pages of the Telaric Codex, a highly sought after ancient book on Athas. She is unsure where they came from.

A large woman opens the door and looks pleased that Aces is awake. She picks up the child, whom Aces learns is named Oopsee, and introduces herself to be Cassi Solivan, Ehd’s mother. The Mul is in the Solivan house. Cassi calls down to the others and Krushi, Mentathenis, Terrlen, Modreg, Sam, Ehd, Cliff and Lythannis crowd into the room to welcome the Mul back from her deep slumber.

She learns that after the Shadovar city teleported away, the cloaked figure, and friend of Lythannis became very protective of her in her sleep, and as the group began their trek westward, the mysterious humanoid carried her the entire 300 miles from the ruins of Arabel to Iriaebor. While passing through Iriaebor, against Ehd’s best hopes, they were caught by friends of his mother’s and were forced to pay she and his family a visit.

After reuniting, the whole group heads through the twisted stair wells and hallways of the Solivan household to the floor level dining room and kitchen area, where Cassi is planning a dinner for the party. On the way, they pass one of Ehd’s sisters, Eve, a 12 year old girl with raven black hair and pale skin who shrugs off Ehd’s attempts at sibling playfulness. Cassi informs Aces that she is a mute, but the best assassin the family has. Krushi is disgusted that a 12 year old anything is an assassin but Cassi ensures the halfling that Eve wasn’t happy unless she had a couple daggers in her hands.

Aces wanders around the house and sees Megilwath sitting in solitude, she is reminded about their lost friend, Sona Summergale and decides not to interrupt the man in his thoughts. In the back yard, she is greeted by Fanidea, who is also sitting alone and sharpening her sickle, squinting in the sunlight. On a log sitting quietly, she sees the mysterious cloaked figure who notices her approach. As she sits next to him, he puts his arm around her and without a word, she and Ree’vr have an understanding.

They spend the next few moments before dinner talking about what each of them remember about their past and how they ended up on Toril. Strangely, it seems that Ree’vr has the same dark spots as Aces.

As Cliff and Sam help Cassi finish the dinner, the woman shamelessly hits on the shifter, talking about wanting a rematch with the man and how she desires a few puppies of her own someday. The shifter raises an eyebrow and Sam pretends not to hear the two. Ehd however, does and voices his protest from the next room, but is shushed by his mother in a playful manner.

The front door flies open and in strolls two more of Ehd’s brothers. Garren, a jerk-faced, hulking 16 year old wearing full plate, and Brandis, a robed 10 year old with a silly pointed hat and his nose shoved in a book. Ehd and Garren, as usual immediately get into a scuffle and Cassi has to break it up as they sit down for dinner. Another brother, a dirty little 8 year old nicknamed “Peggy” hobbles over and plops himself down at the kiddy table on the floor and waits patiently for dinner to be served.

Once again, the front door is opened and in a blinding light glides Mana. A beaming 14 year old with white hair, white robes and a set of beautiful golden pauldrons covering her shoulders. Excited to see Ehd, she runs up and jumps into his arms with a smile. Eve appears in her seat and dinner is served.

During the meal, the group talks about their next move, Cassi pressures Cliff into joining her in the back yard mud pit, and Sam tries to figure out where Eve’s food is going, as she never makes a move to eat, but her food is seemingly disappearing from her plate.

Mana inquires about Ehd’s love life and makes the connection between he and Krushi. Garren pesters the group about their makeup and why they have no cleric of use, and Fanidea resists slicing off the boy’s head and sending it to Lolth.

Brandis asks Mentathenis about his spells and rituals and offers to teach the eladrin some tricks and Lythannis recounts his stories about Ree’vr who he believes to be a scared kindred spirit of the Feywild. Megilwath keeps to himself while Modreg and “Peggy” have a food fight and Terrlen polishes off his mapping of the Solivan House.

Ehd and Garren get into another fight and Aces rises to her feet to put the bastard in his place. Krushi, noticing Eve is suddenly standing behind Aces with her daggers in hand and glaring up at her back, calls her out. Ehd tells the dark haired girl to stand down and that the Mul woman in not a threat to her brother,but he needs to learn respect. Garren continues to spout out insults until Aces calls him little and he pouts, flops back in his chair and sits quietly for the rest of dinner.

Mana notices Krushi struggling with her mother’s cooking and with a smile she leans in and whispers, “I understand, it’s always bad!”

As the group starts to climb out of the remains of the Tiefling Princess, Sona falls to her knees ad starts coughing up black goo, her face is pale and the color drains from her eyes. She starts to pass out and Megilwath catches her, Aces offers to carry her. They remove the discs from their alcoves and replace them into the ornate sarcophagus.

When the main doors are opened, there is an old man standing before them. He introduces himself as Malakai, and is curious and shocked to see the tombs doors ajar, Aces gets the sense that he is not being entirely truthful. He asks that they allow him entrance into the tomb and they recommend that he forget about it. They push past him and Mentathenis leaves him with the room well lit, to make sure he can’t see the music. Malakai, in defeat, follows the group out.

As they make their way out of the Tomb, Aces and Ehd notice a rattling of bones across the floor. Soon after the rest of the group also catch the bones skittering about. Aces runs ahead with Sona in her arms to stand guard and Ehd moves to help the rest get through the room safely. Three skeletal tieflings rise up behind them and shamble forward. They open the entrance doors and run through, closing them behind them and Modreg quickly locks up. They turn to find themselves surrounded by the Silverymoon Brigade.

Sam’s trip to the “Noble Cart”

Berend, Sam, and the mysterious cloaked figure walk swiftly along the East Way, headed west, towards Arabel. Lythannis, mounted atop his beautiful pegasus Celestine trots to their side and Berend’s two tracker pugs, Sparky and Radar are in tow. Berend and Lythannis tell Sam stories of their travel’s and their greatest hunts. Sam begins to respect the three friends on their trip back to the Brigade. As they approach, the guards fall into place, two move to escort the group to Aramil’s tent, a few others bow and take off their helms.

Aramil emerges from his tent to feign thanks to the three for bringing back his bride to be. He reveals that he knows all about their plan to pass a changeling off as Sona and orders Berend executed. The dwarf struggles to free himself but he can not get away from the eladrin soldiers. Aramil orders that Lythannis and the vampire be locked up so that the Summergale family and Silverymoon can decide their fates.

Sam, in Sona’s guise stands with her jaw open in shock of what just happened, but decides to keep up the act to see if she can pull the con through. She tells Aramil how vile she thinks he is and that she absolutely refuses to marry him. Aramil brushes it off as more changeling trickery but she continues and eventually convinces him to return her to her father. Aramil agrees and has her taken over to the noble cart. As Sam and her escorts walk away from Aramil they are passed by a sickly looking man with yellowed skin, before they are out of earshot Sam can over hear Aramil say “Malakai, find the others.”

Sam is secured inside the cart for their trip back to Silverymoon, she attempts to get her robe caught on in the doorjam, but soon realizes it to be magically locked. She sits back to think.

Sona’s Fall

Aramil confronts the party, threatening to kill the treacherous adventurers if they do not hand Sona over. He is displeased with her condition and blames them for her illness. Aces takes Sona’s head in her hand and threatens to crush it if the Silverymoon Brigade tries to attack. Tensions run high, and to add more, Krushi explodes a ball lightning in her hands causing the bridage to flinch back. Sona begs Aces to let her down, she wants no blood spilled on her account. More black drips from her pale lips, and she clutches her chest screaming out in pain.

Cliff glances at the sky to notice a sort of distortion just before a shadow is cast over Arabel. A huge, blackened floating city looms overhead, casting it’s darkness across the area. Everyone looks around trying to piece together what is happening. Demonic creatures begin to emerge from the shadow swarming the heroes and the Silverymoon Brigade alike. A huge three way battle ensues. Aces, Ehd, Megilwath, Mentathenis and Fanidea stay together protecting Sona. Krushi and Cliff work together to chase down the escaping Aramil. During the battle Modreg is narrowly missed my a swift dagger from Malakai. He turns to release the skeletal tieflings from the tomb on the deceitful man, and retreats behind Terrlen. The guide, angered that someone just tried to kill the his little green friend transforms into his large wolf form to protect him. The entrance to the tomb is shattered as he grows to full size, ripping at the betrayer.

The party watches as many of the Silverymoon brigade are sucked down into the shadow that they stand in, the remaining brigade forces quickly panic and begin to flee, rain starts to fall, a thunderstorm has come.

Dodging the Demonic creatures and the fleeing brigade, Krushi and Cliff catch up to Aramil and manage to bloody him. Just before they can make the killing blow, a huge Balor rises from the darkness in front of them in an explosion of shadow and flame. It’s lightning sword rips from the air and it’s fiery whip follows into existence. The whip is spun around Aramil setting him on fire and pulling him towards the huge creature. Krushi and Cliff look on as the eladrin is brought to his knees in pain. Before the balor can raise his lightning sword to make the killing blow, Krushi explodes the Eladrin in a mess of liquified bone and flesh. Her hair crackles with light as Cliff tells her they should retreat back to the group. The balor takes out a group of Silverymoon when they dare to wander too close to it, it walks after the Halfling and Shifter.

A small demonic creature rushes up on Aces and knocks Sona out of her arms, causing the sickly woman to fall to the ground. Megilwath struggles to get to her but is not fast enough. His beloved Sona is pushed into the shadow by a second demon. He falls to his knees in rage.

The balor yells out, rumbling the ground “Pyraxis rules you! Return to Shade, the spreaders will handle the rest!”

One by one the demons melt back into the shadow of the floating city. The balor gives out a sinister laugh as he announces “The time of the Shadovar has come, the darkening of this planet has begun, all shall bow to Shar!” and he follows his minions into the shadow.

A Shadow Spreader and five of Aurgloroasa’s dwarven skeletons rise from the black to raise the dead. The group engages, and kills off the dwarfs pretty handily with Mentathenis’ help. Before the Shadow Spreader can be taken down, the group is bloodied. Cliff and Terrlen cross paths and get into a scuffle.

Sam is still sitting in the noble cart when the shadow falls. She watches through the windows as demons fight the Silverymoon Brigade, her cart is rocked a few times and she decides it best to give unlocking the magically sealed cart doors a shot. She manages to remember enough about the arcane to do so and she is released into the pouring rain. She ducks low to avoid being seen and quickly moves to get out of the city. To her left, she notices a sparking sound and sees the beheaded body of Berend Irongullet. His two pugs, Sparky and Radar, catch up to her and she scoops them up. On her flight, she passes another “Noble cart” and thinks that may be where Lythannis and the mummy are being held. She makes a note of it and keeps running.

Up ahead, she notices familiar faces. Ehd, Cliff, and the others. She adjusts her path to head towards them, dodging through ruined buildings and into the graveyard. She comes upon the group just as Cliff falls to the claws of Terrlen, who turns back to the Shadow Spreader with a howl.

She heals him and Ehd is sure to redirect the Shifter to the real problem at hamd. At first everyone thinks Sona has somehow escaped and gotten amazingly better, but then they realize it’s Sam still playing her role.

The group manages to defeat the spreader and help Megilwath out of the mud, still rolling in his own anger for losing his girl. Krushi sends a spark at Megilwath’s rear end to snap him out of it. She tells the drow and the rest of the group that they will find a way into the city and get Sona back. Her hair stands on end.

The group sneaks it’s way through the wet remains of Arabel, avoiding the other spreaders and undead. They make their way to the other cart and release Lythannis and the cloaked mummy. Lythannis expresses his gratitude and calls for Celestine and the pegasus joins them, emerging from a partially collapsed stable structure.

Megilwath falls into an ocean of fire. There are no boundaries, extending as far as the eye can see. His ebon skin burns off in flakes, but there is no pain, only terror and dread. The flames burn brighter and brighter until he can no longer see through his tears, turning to ash as they leave his eyes. At the moment of his death, he is awakened from his meditation.

He turns to see Sona next to him, her hand upon her forehead, as if having awoken from a nightmare. He asks her what it was and she describes exactly what he saw in his own vision. They talk about it for a bit and he comforts her.

Mentathenis awakes from his meditation feeling right as rain. Just a little upset that it continues to drizzle in the lower sections of the peaks. He can hear the voices of Saranine and Modreg, and his brow furrows,“Too early for either of those.” Especially after his keen hearing picks up what the two are speaking of… “Modreg’s personal mating customs.” The clearly excited goblin talks of “Goats, padded helmets and dollops of crab paste, his favorite romantic setup!” Sara scribbles notes in her journal as fast as the little green guy can talk, and catches Mentathenis’ eying her. She politely thanks Modreg for his exciting information, and walks over to the Eladrin. She bids him a good morning and asks that they take a walk together. He accepts, knowing the Silver Dragon in Eladrin form has been a loyal friend of his family for years.

They walk up around a ridge overlooking the north. The skies are mostly darkened, The clouded peaks still cast their shadows over the land and beyond, the great Netheril, home of the Shadovar. Sara asks Mentathenis about the details of the Wraith Blade and it’s vault. She talks about her studies, locating an island that holds secrets, one that disappeared. She thinks she has placed the island within a 500 mile area, somewhere beyond the Trackless Sea, halfway to Returned Abeir. She also mentions the security of the vault, and says she knows just the thing. She summons a dove to her from the forest below, and whispers it a message. She waves it away and turns to Mentathenis to tell him that she sent message to Trysta Riversong, and that as the best Ranger Sara knows, she could get them a worm.

She tells Mentathenis that she will go on ahead to the Sword Coast and secure them a ship, bids him farewell and asks that he avert his eyes as she transforms. Her shining silver wings beat once and her long slender body is sent diving over the edge. The Eladrin watches as she banks west and disappears from his view. He walks back to camp.

Sona and Megilwath talk about her situation and what the bounty hunters are willing to do for them. She says she wants to stay with him, her love, but is scared. She also mentions to Megilwath about Fanidea staring at him while sharpening her scythe. She looks irritated and gloomy, her shifting chromatic eyes squinting in the overcast light.

He approaches her and asks her again why she is with their party. She tells him that her guild in Menzoberranzan assigned her with the task of watching over him and that he is in danger. She did not choose it, but could not refuse it. She stands and walks a ways out of camp Megilwath follows and they both pass Cliff, returning from his circles of the camp through the mountains. He reports to Ehd and Sam that he didn’t see anything to stir alarm. Aces, Krushi and Terrlen awaken and start breaking down camp.

Megilwath watches Fanidea as she sits on a stone and continues polishing her scythe. The group finishes breaking down camp and decide to head west along the Vale Road in the direction of Arabel. A little ways down the mountain road, Megilwath and Modreg pick up the sounds of battle and barking dogs somewhere below them. A Pegasus carrying an Eladrin rider zips past above them, raining fire arrows down on an unseen conflict. Megilwath climbs to get a better view but can not see the fighting from his position. He sees the Eladrin notice him and train an arrow on the Drow, he waves and when the Eladrin sees this he turns back to loose it into the fray at hand.

The group continues down to see a dwarf and a cloaked humanoid joined in battle with three skeletal dwarves and a skeletal hound. A large black swirling orb of shadow floats off to the side. A blackened trail of death lay behind it. Shadowy tendrils writhing and twist in search of flesh to feast upon. They find a recently slain body and begin stripping it’s flesh away, leaving only bleached white bones behind. Aces, Sam, Terrlen and Modreg stay behind to watch over Sona. Megilwath, Fanidea, Cliff, Ehd and Krushi engage to help defeat the undead. During the battle, a lot of blood is shed, and the black Shadow Spreader manages to be a challenge for the party to take down. Two small pugs run up on Sona’s group, one of which sparks when walking through shadow. The elf recognizes the two small dogs to be Berend Irongull’s. An old friend and servant of the Summergale family. She begins to fear that Sam’s plan will not work.

Before the battle draws to a close, Cliff is knocked unconscious, and when the Spreader is finally defeated it’s darkness explodes away revealing a hideously gaunt cloaked figure to be at the center of it’s evil, who falls to the ground in a crumpled heap.

Cliff and Ehd come to recognize that the dwarf is indeed Berend Irongullet of the Silverymoon Brigade, who thanks them for their assistance and asks about Sona. The mysterious cloaked figure stands near Berend and is as still as a statue, it’s bladed staff sticking in the ground at it’s feet. The Pegasus mounted Eladrin lands nearby and strolls up, introducing himself as Lythannis Ech’thilion. Cliff and Ehd give the dwarf good news. The group gathers, and with Sam’s help, persuades Berend that using Sam in place of Sona would work out to benfit everyone. Sona gets to stay with Megilwath, The Bounty Hunters get their 10,000 gold, Berend gets his bonus, Sam gets to play nobility and Aramil will get what he wants.

Sam takes the guise of Sona and Berend uses a piece of Sam’s equipment to home the two pugs “Sparky” and “Radar” to her scent. Sona hands Sam her Songblade, as it was given to her by her father, and he would expect her to have it on her person. Soon after, the elf drops to her knees, clutching her chest in pain. Her skin pales and she begins to sweat. For a moment, the color drains from her eyes. Megilwath, Sam and Krushi rush to her side to offer aid and help her stand. She says it is alright, and that she didn’t know what that was, but she feels okay again. She grabs Megilwath’s hand and pulls off her necklace, handing it to him. She says she still fears for the future, and her dreams. She promises that she will always love him and wants him to have her necklace so that it may be a symbol of her heart gifted only to him.

Lythannis finishes flirting with Mentathenis and catches up to his friends and Sam, who continue along the road west toward the Brigade. The band, leaves the road to travel in an arc, around the Brigade and back to Arabel.

After a three day journey, they arrive in the ruins of the city. Mentathenis wants to investigate the Tomb of the Tiefling Princess. A place of ancient mystery that his father, despite having tried many times failed at discovering. Cliff and Ehd are interested as they have a map taken from the ogres describing the same place. Everyone ends up following the Eladrin.

When they reach the entrance to the tomb it has been boarded up with three signs…

“By order of the Arabel Authority
these doors are to remain sealed at all times.
Forgive us the inconvenience.”

“No Seriously, the magical doors do not open.
People have tried for years, and many have died in the attempt.”

It doesn’t take much for Aces to smash the boards, Megilwath to pick the lock, and Mentathenis to disable the magical seal. Mentathenis strikes up a light, and playing guide, leads them through a room that his father explained as having a poisonous cloud trap and skeletal tiefling guards. Much of the tomb has collapsed under Aurgloroasa’s attack, and many stains of blood and chips of bone lay about. The eladrin takes his friends through a small trap door in a small alcove to the lower level, where he lays eyes on the doors that have denied so many before him.

The large double doors have graceful dancing engravings flowing throughout their surfaces.
A man’s body lies at the base of them. His skull is crushed in and in death, he kneels before them, his head rests gently against the door. A long dried puddle of blood lay around him.

After a little investigation the group figures out that the doors function through contact with living flesh. In order to open them, a beautiful song must be played through tracing ones fingers with the lights pulsing along their seemingly whimsical paths. Mentathenis snuffs out his light so they can see all of the song’s movement and requires nearly the whole group to play the song. Once started, it feels less like they are being mimics to the door’s playing and making the music themselves, as if having heard the song before, a lullaby perhaps from childhood. Even Aces thinks she has heard it before.

When the song is finished, the doors open to reveal a large room with a skull pit in the center. Behind it, lie an ornate sarcophagus. The sarcophagus is magically sealed and four blue rune discs glow on top of it. After having to stave off a fight between Cliff and Terrlen who nearly get into a scuffle in the skull pit, the group discovers that the runic discs can be removed from the sarcophagus by spinning them off. They place them into round indentations in the walls which activate glowing patterns like waves of light along the walls and across the floor into the skull pit, releasing the skulls into a hidden chamber below and off to the side to reveal a hidden trap door below.

They open the sarcophagus to find a small orb. Blue sky and swirling clouds are enclosed inside. When Krushi picks it up, it activates! The clouds and blue sky explode out of the orb and fill the room with light. A Tiefling-like woman appears before them and speaks…

“Well, here she is.
Body broken beyond repair.
She’ll probably look pretty bad by now.
Skeletal and rotting. Oh well.
I tried to arrange everything as we agreed.
It sure was a pain to get her buried, hopefully she’s not petrified or anything.
I still don’t understand why we needed the skull pit though, it seems a little excessive…
Now, when you meet Desper, make sure you give her this orb, she’ll understand…
Don’t forget to lock up when you leave, can’t have anyone else getting in here
So…yeah! Good luck, and I’ll see you soon! I’m really excited!”

The daylight is sucked back into the orb and the Tiefling woman is gone.

Megilwath, Modreg and Cliff notice that while she was shaped mostly like a Tiefling, she has strangely colored bluish skin and green glowing geometric patterns and designs crawled about her skin.

The party heads into the large trap door in the floor to enter a small area below. It’s dusty and dirty, and while some of the intricacies remain in the strange skeletal beam’s framing, much of the room has collapsed in on itself. There are a bunch of random items of little value scattered about the room. Carvings of foreign landscapes. Scattered parchment. A ship’s helm. Some old books, who’s pages are also faded. A single chest lies hidden underneath some junk, behind the ship’s wheel.

Cliff and Megilwath notice some writing on one of the beams above. It reads…

“O come from afar, from those ages away.
O don’t ever yon wander to return there someday,
O the great wheel beyond, must be held sway,
O through spaces between, we will find our way.”

The party starts to suspect that this small room may actually be a ship of some kind. Megilwath grabs the wheel that when touched, glows in chromatic waves, the whole room shifts and rocks begin to fall and the wheel tears itself free of it’s base. They open the chest and find only 3 gold, and an old spool with a single length of thread still wrapped around it’s core.

Aces wants to take the entire wheel with her but the others point out that it won’t fit through the upper trap door, and can not be placed into the bag of holding.

Mentathenis takes a piece of the wreckage and wipes the dust away. He cannot identify the strange material, it is neither metal nor wood but somewhere in between. on the back of the piece, carved in elegant script are the words “The Tiefling Princess.”

As they approach the Halfmoon Inn, Fanidea presses again to be lead before the masters of the Seven Pillared Hall. Megilwath and the Maven offer to show her and Aces, Krushi, Mentathenis, Modreg and Terrlen make their way to the doors of the Halfmoon and enter. Cliff, Ehd and Sam sit at a table out of the way and see the five friends enter. Cliff immediately smells lycanthrope on Terrlen and the two get into a scuffle before Krushi and Sam are able to break it up and get the two men separated. The three bounty hunters return to their seats and Cliff eyes Terrlen from afar.

Fanidea, Megilwath and the Maven approach the Bronze Warder and ask it to summon a Mage to speak with. It moves towards the portal and stomps its hoof upon it. Threatened by the dark skinned woman, the Maven does her best to stay between the two drow and not let the two have words without interjecting. After a moment, the Ordinator Arcanis appears demanding reason for their interruption.

Fanidea tells the Ordinator about the imminent attack from the Drow and he says he will be sure to gather his things and leave. Megilwath and the the Maven ask to see Orontar, and the Ordinator nods and dissappears. Orontar appears a matter of seconds later and he holds the gold mask of the Ordinator in his hand. The Maven notices the mask and. begins to wonder about the Ordinator and Orontar being the same person.

Orontar thanks the two elves and offers them a pair of Diamond Bracers and 900 gold as reward. Fanidea stays to warn Orontar about the Drow while Megilwath and the Maven head back to the Inn, they flirt back and forth and decide to retire to their bedroom straight away.

Sam notices the red headed elf and a drow man approaching the Inn from a window near their table. She taps Cliff and Ehd and tells them to follow her lead, taking the form of Sister Linora from Winterhaven.

As the two elves enter and head straight for the stairs. Sam stops them and says she has something very important to tell to Sona Summergale. After some hesitation and seemingly annoyed by the Sister’s bad timing, she agrees to hear the woman as long as Megilwath can hear as well. Sam tells her that she can not run anymore and should answer to her father about running away. She tells her about the Silverymoon brigades and the reward offered for her return.

Krushi sits near Terrlen and Rendil at the bar and eats trail mix. Mentathenis watches the situation developing with The Maven and Aces and Modreg talk to Charrak outside. They ask the kobold to locate Brugg for them and tell him Aces wants to see him.

Mentathenis and Krushi join the conversation about The Maven’s dilemma, to Sam’s annoyance. A man sitting alone at the front table is put off by the people crowding his space and decides to leave. Cliff and Ehd move into the room to watch out for the Changeling. Unable to convince Sona to turn herself in, Sam attempts a different approach. Taking the Maven into a side room, she reveals her ability to shape change and becomes Sona. The Maven is shocked and Sam speaks to the elf about another option in fixing the issue. She could take Sona’s place and deceive Aramil and her father. She asks the changeling if she can run it by her friends, and Sam agrees.

Aces watches as the angry bar patron unties one of the horses out front and questions the man’s strange and over dramatic demeanor. He brushes her off and leads the horse away. Aces and Modreg turn to notice a silver headed eladrin woman approaching the Inn. When her hair catches the firelight, it shines almost blindingly. Modreg and Aces have to avert their eyes. She walks up to the Mul and introduces herself excitedly as Saranine Lunathalia and she is searching for Mentathenis Starfeon. Aces sends Modreg in with the woman and continues to watch the man stroll away.

Fanidea comes running out from behind a building waving her hands and yelling to the Mul that the hall is under attack! The angered man overhears the Cleric as well and leaps onto the horse kicking it into a run. Aces spins and heads back into the Halfmoon, she tells everyone inside about the attack and Fanidea adds that she did not see any drow as she had expected, only skeletal creatures bringing down an Ogre near one of the gates. Aces pulls Rendil aside and tells him to gather his things, take Erra to safety, and warn anyone he can on the way out. The halfling jumps to, and on their exit of the Inn Rendil hands Krushi a bag of trail mix, he puts his hand on her shoulder and wishes her luck with a smile. Aces asks Terrlen to find them a way out of the Labyrinth. He quickly pulls out his maps and begins studying them in a panic.

Saranine, happy to be in the presence of her old friend’s son, chats up Mentathenis about the history of the Thunderspire Labyrinth, Aurgloroasa, dwarfs and everything in-between. He always remembered her being a bookworm, even more so than himself.

The Maven invites Sam and her two friends to join them in getting out of the Labyrinth, so they can continue their talks in safety. Terrlen explains that he thinks their best shot is heading up through the Labyrinth and out the top into the upper Peaks. Aces agrees and pushes everyone out the doors. Just as they are about to make a run for one of the gates, they are attacked by a group of skeletal dwarfs and their two skeletal hounds. The party, now twelve strong, are able to make quick work of the undead, and only Cliff is injured during the skirmish. Modreg and Megilwath think they can lead the group out of the hall without attracting the attention of more dwarfs. They all follow the drow and goblin’s lead and make their way into the Labyrinth.

On the way through the twisting passages, Saranine and Mentathenis talk some more. She explains that his first wand was actually magical, even though he never knew. She tells him about the spell of Masking Magical Energy and the spell she created to detect the spell of Masking Magical Energy. This is how she was able to keep tabs on his location. She explains that his father went looking for information on an artifact and has disappeared, out of touch for a week and a half. Terrlen asks that they keep their voices down and leads them further up the twisting passages to emerge into the rain and lightning of the Peaks.

From one darkness to another they go, a blackened partially ruined tower looms above them as they make efforts to search for a suitable camp site for the night. Terrlen finds a large open area just off the path up ahead, and Sam creates a campsite for the band. Soon after, Megilwath hears the sounds of flapping wings fluttering about above. A hissing voice on the howlng winds sounds through the crevices of the mountain. “Leave this place now. The shadow of death comes for you.”

A large boulder rolls down from above and the band scatters to the side before it crashes to pieces on impact. A gargoyle can be seen flitting clumsily through the downpour. The Band engages, and within a few moments they are under attack from 3 gargoyles, more boulders are thrown from the mountain top, and the stoneflesh creatures zip between the intruders slashing and biting with claw and fang. The trio of nasties is bested though, and the party feels a rumble accompanied by more falling rock and a sound from above. The creepy tower darkens and in a puff of blackness, disappears from where it stood.

Saranine points out that the Shadovar have been rumored to be able to teleport their floating cities across vast distances on Toril, and that many times, they will appear out of nowhere, seemingly without having taken the time to fly there.

Terrlen and Aces locate a new camping spot down the Vale Road to the west a few hundred yards. Sona helps Sam establish the new site and they all turn in for a hard night’s rest.

Megilwath charges up to one of the channeling enigmas, pulling it away from the pillar effectively stopping it’s cast. Myst rips her head to the side to catch Shalimar, Paldemar and Varyl in her noxious breath. The succubus curses the wyrm, warning that she will inform Aurgloroasa of her treachery. The young shadow dragon scoffs at the threat and promises none of the shadovar will leave the room alive, dying by her claws or the intruder’s weapons.

Aces rushes up to Varyl, and still reeling from the betrayal has trouble dealing with the Mul woman. Krushi and the Maven head into the corner near Megilwath to aid him in killing off the enigma. Mentathenis, calling Ebon from the Astral Plane to assist him, faces down Paldemar, Shalimar and a trio of Norkers. The Bronze Warder crashes through a set of double doors and charges across the room towards Krushi and the Maven. Modreg attempts to open a magically sealed door in the rune room using his thievery skills.

Myst makes a few attacks upon her former allies and withdraws to the other pillar to begin attacking the second channeling enigma. Megilwath, Krushi and the Maven bring the first enigma to a bloody state and it begins ripping off its own flesh in a rage, being destroyed soon after. Aces continues her attacks on Varyl and the succubus manages to plant a kiss on the Maven, placing a trance upon the girl and turning her into a loyal shield for the winged woman. Megilwath moves on to assault the larger Norker. Ebon is badly injured and returns to the Astral Plane, pushing Mentathenis to take out Shalimar, and the two smaller Norkers in retaliation, he is pursued by Paldemar and falls back behind a pillar for cover. Having trouble with the Bronze Warder, Kruhi retreats both herself and the Maven to safer ground with her sirocco. Being free of direct attacks, the Halfling releases a storm around Aces, ripping through the Warder and the Norker Berserker.

Without her elven shield Varyl cannot stand up to Aces onslaught and falls. The Mul turns to head off the Warder, who attempts to chase Krushi. Myst rips the second enigma in half and flies across the room to assist Aces. Megilwath unleashes the wraith blade and rips the soul out of the Berserker, to continue after Paldemar. The Maven throws out her healing abilities and stays near Krushi who launches her attacks into the construct. Aces leaves the minotaur in Myst’s claws to help Megilwath and Mentathenis with Paldemar, who is finally destroyed. Everyone turns their attention towards the Warder and it eventually falls to pieces with a metallic clang.

Myst reverts to her human form and offers the party a proposition in that if they kill her master Aurgloroasa, she will give them each a piece of the dracolich’s extensive treasure hoard. They agree, and she hands them a small black stone, so that when they are about to make the killing blow against the lich, they can speak into the stone and Myst will crush her phylactery, ensuring her death. In addition, she tells them that Shade is the floating city of the shadovar, and they are on the move to cover all of Toril in darkness.

Mentathenis takes Paldemar’s Wand of Icy Rays +3 and Modreg manages to open the door to Paldemar’s room to discover a pounch of 1000 gold under the bed and a Spying Orb for the Seven Pillared Hall. Krushi locates a ritual book with three rituals within it in the Warder’s antechamber. Two of which, being Leomond’s Secret Chest and Arcane Lock, she gives to Mentathenis. The third, Brew Potion, she gives to the Maven.

On their way out of the tower they find a gem worth 800 gold and a crystal skull of cyric worth 500 gold in the enigma’s den.

Reappearing in the large cavern within the Labyrinth, Myst bids them farewell, and flies off down one of the tunnels. The party notices that Terrlen is not at his camp, and decide to go looking for him. Megilwath and Modreg are able to follow his footfalls into a side passage and through an almost completely collapsed section revealing yet another branching tunnel. Krushi yells down into the darkness to see if he answers and sure enough the man does, soon after, running up to them and begging them excitedly to come see what he discovered while mapping.

He leads them down a corkscrew-like tunnel winding down and leading to a dead end. There Terrlen points out a curious symbol scratched into the wall. Mentathenis recognizes it from his studies as a rough representation of Sigil, the city of doors. Aces quickly dismisses it as unimportant and pushes the party to leave quickly. When asked why by Mentathenis and Krushi, she talks about her experiences in the city and upon her home world of Athas. The woman does not want to go back, but touches the wall to ensure that the portal is not active. She tells them that doors all across the multiverse can be opened depending on whether or not you are carrying item attuned to open each specific door, the item can be almost anything at all.

Terrlen marks the position of the symbol on his map just in case they need to find it again and they all return to the cavern. As they approach, they can hear movement near the camp. Megilwath and Modreg move into the shadows to discover a drow female rummaging through Terrlen’s things. Megilwath and the others approach the woman who notices their coming and whips around with a large scythe in hand. When pressed about what she is doing, the drow says she is lost, but Mentathenis calls her on her lie and says that she has come with a warning, for Megilwath. She tells them all that House Hun’viir is coming and they are no more than two days behind her, traveling with undoubtedly large numbers. She must also warn the Seven Pillared Hall as that was the last place they saw the rogue drow. She asks them to lead her to the Hall. Krushi asks why she is helping Megilwath, and she replies that she believes that the drow and the surface should not be so at odds with one another. The Halfling asks her name and she introduces herself as Fanidea Tayunyrr.

Returning to the Hall, they are once again approached by Charrak, the kobold beggar, who informs them that there are three people very interested in the red headed elven girl at the Halfmoon Inn. Sona gulps in fear and the companions continue towards the Inn, where they can see two horses tied up in front.

After their defeat of Akiah, the Keeper of Secrets, Aces, Krushi, Megilwath, Mentathenis, The Maven and Modreg begin to make their way back to the Halfmoon Inn. Orontar, the Mage of Saruun notices that Krushi is carrying his Staff of Fiery Might, and asks the Halfling if she would be so kind as to return it to him. Instead of handing it over outright, Krushi makes a deal with the mage to give it back only on the condition that he make himself available for any and all questions and summons that the party requests of him. He agrees to her demands, and also offers to give the halfling something more appropriate in addition. He reaches into his bag of holding and extends a very large shining gold staff with a amber orb perched on it’s top. A Thunderwave Staff +3.

Continuing back to the Inn, The Maven voices her concern for Megilwath and about killing a celestial being. She feels very dirty about the whole thing and though she is worried that pursuing the power of the Wraith Blade may not be the best course for them, she will follow the drow because of how much she cares for him.

When they round the corner of the Inn Brugg is repairing the front door and Rendil is overseeing. Aces joins to help and the others enter to grab a drink and trail mix. Once the door is mostly repaired, the party heads into their respective rooms for the night to rest up for the Tower of Mysteries, and perhaps, a showdown with Paldemar himself.

The next morning they head back into the Labyrinth under Aces’ lead followng her silver key and with Terrlen in tow so he can map the way to the secret tower.

The silver key eventually leads them out of the twisting tunnels and into a large and seemingly empty cavern. As Aces nears the center of the cavern she notices a bright golden rune beginning to appear spinning in front of her. As she moves closer it becomes more and more visible until it looks like it’s almost a physical object. She nods to the others and touches her hand to the rune and is instantly teleported. The others touch the rune and follow her. Terrlen stays behind to polish his new map, set up camp and explore the area.

The party finds themselves standing in a 20 by 20 foot room upon square rune carved into the floor and two exits into hallways. A loud howling sound can be heard spewing out two deep notes that reverberate the walls. Megilwath can hear something coming down one of the hallways. The party backs up to a defensive position and waits. A goblinoid type creature appears around the corner wondering who is at the door. The Norker stands there slightly dumbfounded when it sees the heroes and casually turns back the way it came to jump into a run and starts screaming about intruders. Aces and Megilwath chase it down before it can get to where it’s going and lay it out. Another Norker hears the commotion and steps out of a side room to charge the attackers. Eight more of the creatures teleport onto the floor near another spinning gold rune. Mentathenis, Krushi and The Maven notice something strange with the two pillars they can see and spells begin to cast from each one, also against the heroes. Modreg stays back per Aces’ request. After working together to dispatch the Norkers, they retreat back into the room they came in through to avoid getting memory ripped by the pillars. More Norkers can be heard pouring onto the floor from the teleportation rune. They wait for the creatures to come to them and take them out as they appear, then they head straight for the next teleportation rune to get off the floor and away from the spell conduits.

On the second floor, the party encounters a couple more Norkers, four Enigmas of Cyric, who rip off their own skin and attack in a bloody rage, and a familiar enemy, a Bronze Warder. After an extremely bloody battle and a few near deaths, the 6 friends manage to get themselves bandaged up and decide to continue through the next rune to the third floor.

Again they find themselves in a 20 by 20 foot room with a floor inscribed rune. Three doors stand to the West, North and East. Krushi can hear the unmistakable clanking of another Bronze Warder through the door to the East. Only silence from the West door and through the north door can be heard voices and a loud magical hum. They listen in on the conversation between four voices. Two male and two female, and discover that they are nearing the completion of a ritual that will put all the Bronze Warders within the labyrinth under the control of something called “Shade.” The female with the child-like voice sounds annoyed and impatient, pushing for the others to hurry up.

Aces looks to her friends to make sure they are ready. Megilwath draws his blades. Mentathenis, holds his wand and sword crossed and at the ready. The Maven tunes her lute. Modreg, visibly shaking holds his dagger in two hands. Krushi twirls her over-sized staff around and catches it. “Let’s fry these guys up!” She exclaims.

They burst through the door to find a large room. It’s floor is inset with a large symbol of Cyric, a skull wreathed in purple flame. A few Norkers can be seen. Strange arcane energy swirls about from the left side of the room where many figures stand nearby a strange contraption.

The party can see two Enigmas of Cyric channel energy into the arcane device under the watch of a mage dressed in the robes of the Saruun, Paldemar. A scantily clad succubus also watches along with a rogue in dark leather, a man that Mentathenis recognizes as Shalimar. The fourth figure is a young girl, no more than 13 years of age who’s eyes are blackened orbs and hair of flowing black mist. She turns toward the interruption and says "Oh for fell’s sake, I told you! The succubus looks over and starts screeching “Stop them! Do not allow them to disrupt the ritual!”

Shalimar eyes the heroes and points out that the Dwarf and Cleric are missing, only recognizing Mentathenis. He turns to the young girl to ask is she killed them. She replies that there was no Dwarf or Cleric with their group, visibly annoyed with the man. The succubus motions to a small malformed Norker holding a large orb and hisses “Take the control orb to Shade! We will finish them here.” The Norker hobbles away towards a glowing blue portal and steps through. The young girl and Shalimar start to follow the Norker out but are stopped by the succubus clearing her throat. “Where are you two going? You will fight and die this time if you have to, your combined failings against these…heroes is already unforgivable!”

The young girl rolls her blackened eyes in disgust and lets out a sigh. Black shadowy wings emerge from her back ripping to extension with a snap, she bursts into shadow and reforms into what the party recognizes as Myst.

Shalimar draws his daggers and says ’Very well then, I WILL have vengeance for the murder of Ninaran."

Paldemar yells out “Just a few more moments, destroy the casters first!” and whistles, causing the Bronze Warder in the next room to clank to attention.

The succubus licks her claws with a snake-like tongue, and in a dripping tone says “I will lock down the elf, she would make a wonderful gift to Shar I think. I am Varyl, Nightbringer of the dark goddess, and your deaths will be quick.”

Myst looks towards the heroes, flaps her wings once, lifting into the air and curling her claws. She takes a deep breath…

Throughout the night and into the next morning Megilwath is whispered to by the Blade. It warns him that if he does not take the blade into his hand it will find someone who will, and evil is easy to come by. He refuses and in effort keep the blade silent he offers up alternatives and attempts to strike a deal with it.

The heroes notice that Delphina Moongem has returned to the Seven Pillared Hall, and is now sitting at the Halfmoon Inn’s bar drinking ale, looking ragged and tired. They ask her how she is doing, and she tells them that Winterhaven was destroyed 5 days ago by the dracolich Aurgloroasa. Many of the townsfolk were killed, including Lord Ernest Padraig and Valthrun the Prescient. The survivors fled into the sewers and were offered food and aid by an unlikely friend in the form of Twitch the wererat. Delphina continues, and tells the party that the undead dragon was searching for them, and when no one would reveal your whereabouts, she went on a rampage and then returned to the Thunder Peaks. The party does their best to comfort the woman with a few pieces of gold and she returns to her ale.

Suddenly, Brugg smashes his way through the front doors of the Halfmoon Inn, roaring about the Wraith Blade, his eyes are glazed over and he seems to be in some sort of trance! Aces is quick to head him off and turn him about before he causes too much damage and tells Modreg to stay back. Mentathenis deducts that it’s probably caused by the shard and Megilwath confirms it, the blade still threatening him through whispers. Krushi decides it’s best to only subdue the Ogre as he is not himself and can not be accountable for his actions. Once outside the inn, the party lays into the brute as he swings wildly at Aces. Three more thugs of the hall, their eyes also glazed over, join the fray and attempt to oust the blade for themselves. Not long after, Brugg is knocked unconscious and Mentathenis and Krushi hear a familiar voice, Surina has begun attacking Aces from the other side. One of the thugs bashes Aces across the back of her head and for a second she blacks out and can hear a very unfamiliar sound, a sort of “whooshing”. She snaps back to reality and refocuses. Megilwath dances through the thugs slicing at them with his blades. The Maven, Mentathenis and Krushi launch their abilities from afar, finishing off the thugs and then turning their attention to Surina.

Another voice, this time of Orontar, also entranced by the Blade’s whispers, begins to attack Aces, launching Ice Serpents and Fire Balls in her direction. The party focuses on Surina, finally shutting her up and shutting her down. They all turn towards the Mage of Saruun. After a quick volley of attacks, Orontar is also knocked unconscious. Krushi and Mentathenis go through his stuff and find a Staff of Fiery Might +3.

The blade continues it’s calls, and Megilwath alerts the party that it isn’t over and that the only way to stop it, may be to wield it. They decide the best place to try it is near the seclusion of the waterfalls and drag Orontar along with them. As they do, they can hear more shouting coming closer.

When they reach the waterfalls, Aces and Megilwath move onto a small rocky area in the center of the water. The drow reaches into the Bag of Holding and grasps the blade’s hilt, it tells him to ask for it’s power and he shall receive it. He agrees to wield the blade and it tells him that what is coming may hurt a little.

Megilwath feels a burning within his chest and through his arm, at first he thinks it to be his heart, but soon realizes that it is rather his soul being sucked into the blade. Starting at the tip of the sword, the blade begins to disintegrate before his eyes. It continues up to it’s hilt until the sword has all but disappeared. Aces notices a bluish glow coming over the roofs of some of the buildings of the Hall. As it draws closer, they can see it to be the thousands of souls from the soul vault being returned to their keeper. The souls swarm Megilwath and begin to form a waving ethereal blade that extends from his hand. A group of thugs who were previously under the blade’s spell now awaken to find that they have no clue why they are at the falls. They are told by the party to leave the area and the four misfits oblige them.

Strange golden runes begin to appear in the air around Megilwath, slowly at first and then faster and faster, forming a slowly spinning ring. Mentathenis recognizes the runes to be of a celestial language. A pillar of light forms over the drow and extends into the rocky ceiling of the Hall. It grows in size until it becomes 5 feet wide. A golden runic circle begins to appear beneath him and when he looks up into the blinding light he can almost see the heavens and a fire ball heading straight towards him. He moves out of the pillar of light just as the ball of fire crashes into the ground causing a shock wave that blasts throughout the falls. As the heavenly fire begins to clear, an angelic figure rises from a crouch, drawing it’s fiery sword from thin air. The Wraith Blade tells Megilwath that the being is Akiah, the Keeper of Secrets, one of Amaunator’s angelic generals. They are here to kill him and he must destroy the celestial.

Akiah glances around the falls, once realizing they are not in a Soul Vault, speaks. “Mortals, what have you done? You have made a grave error in removing the shard from the vault. The powers you meddle with are beyond your control or understanding.” As Akiah moves towards Megilwath, sword burning in celestial light, Krushi steps between them and attempts to plea with the angel. She tries to explain that their actions were in interest of good and that Megilwath will not be killed unless the angel goes through she and her friends first. Akiah, unmoved by the halfling’s words, bursts into flame and flies up and over she and the drow to land behind him, beginning the assault.

Struggling with the idea of engaging in combat with a celestial, but fearing the loss of Megilwath at it’s hands, Aces, Krushi, Mentathenis and The Maven come to his defense. The Drow moves his way across the creeks and around the falls as he attacks and attempts to avoid being attacked by the guardian. Aces follows closely behind and having the least bit of concern for celestial beings, attacks Akiah relentlessly. The guardian tells the party “Your friend’s soul is now trapped within the wraith blade. The cleansing can only be completed through death, and it shall be done. Do not interfere.” Krushi thinks maybe if they let Akiah kill Megilwath and take the blade back, they can resurrect their friend afterwards. Akiah hears her say this and says “Once a soul is taken by the blade, it can not be returned to a body, but if you assist me in killing the wielder I will ensure you a place within the heavens.” Krushi and the others will have none of it, and decide they must put an end to the angel. After a harrowing battle, and with the burdened drow nearly being killed a couple times, Akiah is defeated. As the light within the celestial being begins to sputter and release it says “Unthinkable, you know not what you do mortals. Though there is but one way to reignite the blade and restore it to it’s true form, You must, reach…surface, drink, light.” and with that the being explodes in blinding light, throwing both Megilwath and Aces back a few yards.

When Megilwath asks the blade where the other five shards may be located, he can feel the blade pull about, searching in all directions, it responds “They are smarter than I thought, The other shards are not upon this world.”

Mentathenis wakes Orontar and the party speaks to the mage about Paldemar and his alliance with the gnolls of The Well of Demons. The Mage of Saruun informs the five heroes that if they were still interested in gaining the favor of his order, he asks that they bring the rogue mage to justice.

The party agrees and Terrlen and Modreg rejoin them. Aces lifts the silver key that they found on Maldrick Scarmaker from her tunic and it pulls gently forward, revealing the way to the Tower of Mysteries.

The party barges into the Inner Sanctum with weapons drawn to find the demonic gnoll Maldrick Scarmaker working to finish his ritual upon a raised section of the sanctum. The final two Winterhaven slaves stand in a trance-like state within a glowing cylinder of light. Maldrick is joined by a Barlgura, a large Minotaur Bonecrusher Skeleton, and three more Carnage Demons. There are also four strange cauldrons emitting a blackened mist.

The party works together attacking the carnage demons and Aces attempts to hold off the Barlgura and Skeleton, though she is unable to do so for long and is eventually knocked unconscious by the Barlgura’s swinging fists. The Maven casts her healing word upon the mul and brings her back to consciousness, Megilwath spins his blades left and right slicing through each and every enemy. Krushi and Mentathenis make their way up onto the platform and attack from the high ground, moving towards the ritual circle. Krushi tosses Mentathenis her fan and he uses it to blow one of the slaves out of the deadly ritual. Krushi then uses a bit of lightning thrust to propel herself through the ritual circle to tackle the second slave out the other side.

Megilwath finishes off the carnage demons along with The Maven, and Aces continues her assault on the Barlgura and Skeleton. Eventually they fall, and the group focuses their fire on Maldrick. The Maven gets in a lucky slice with her songblade and nearly severs the gnolls head from it’s body. Blood sprays and the corpse falls to the floor.

Upon the gnoll’s body they find an Elven Cloak +2, a bundle of letters to and from Paldemar and a silver key.

They leave the Well of Demons, with the Winterhaven slaves and meet Terrlen at his camp nearby. He has cooked up some cave slugs for when the party returns. After they have had their fill of the toasty treat, Terrlen packs up camp and begins to lead them back to the Hall.

On their way back he stops the adventurers due to a large crevice that recently opened in their path. Terrlen deducts that it was probably ripped open by the Toril shake that happened earlier. Everyone can sense something beckoning them towards the dark hole. Krushi decides it best to investigate and against Aces’ wishes, and after Terrlen ties off the rope to a rocky outcropping, she begins her descent, before she dissapears from view Mentathenis casts light on her head. 250 feet down, she reaches the bottom of the rope they sent over the edge and calls up to the others to join her while she goes about securing the line further down to continue.

When the others rejoin Krushi, they continue their descent another 30 feet to see the bottom open into a cavern. The cavern glows a greenish blue and an uncountable number of lost souls swim about and drift past the heroes. Megilwath, despite the pulling in his gut, feels that nothing can come of this but bad, and decides to climb back up to Terrlen and the others. Aces borrows the Safefall Amulet from Krushi and jumps down into the cavern to see it lead into a constructed shrine of some sort emitting a yellowish glow. Aces calls up to The Maven to go after Megilwath in case she, Krushi and Mentathenis need backup. Krushi and Mentathenis join Aces on the floor an start to move towards the glowing shrine. As they approach, they can see three large angelic statues surrounding what appears to be a raises dias. upon the dias, a sword, suspended, and spinning slowly end on end. The fourth angelic statue has been destroyed by a collapse in the ceiling, leaving a hole in what would otherwise be it’s magical barrier of radiant energy.

When the three reach the center of the room, the souls start moving to attack them. More and more spin into the plane to attempt to stop their movement towards the blade, warning the party that it is dangerous. Megilwath and The Maven jump into the room to support their friends against the aggressive souls. Krushi enters into the vault and can see 8 panels of reliefs around the walls of the room. Before throwing her cloak over the sword she examines the panels.

The first relief depicts a great sun surrounded by worshipping celestials.

The second, a sword held by a single celestial larger than those he is surrounded by. The sword appears to emanate light, bathing all onlookers.

The third, thousands of celestials reigning fire upon the demons and arch devils. The large celestial with the lighted blade leads them into battle.

The fourth, the celestial is kneeling before a huge black figure of a man with horns, it’s eyes are inset with ruby.

The fifth, the sword again, held by the same celestial though now shrouded in shadow, the blade is blackened and no longer shining.

The sixth, thousands of demons swarm the celestials. The large shadow celestial with the blackened blade leads them.

The seventh, the shadow celestial falling from the skies, along with other angelic figures and demons alike, his wings tattered, the blackened sword now removed from his hand.

The eighth, six blackened swords surround the shadow celestial, forming a ring, beyond that a second ring of six angelic figures hold sentry.

Megilwath spots a few fresh corpses upon the rocky floor, they are the bodies of four humans and a dwarf with a tarnished silver crown. He grabs the crown and Krushi removes the sword from the dias, giving it to Aces, who sticks it into the bag of holding. Even while within the bag they can still hear it’s call.

Pushing their way back through the souls and fighting them off, they leave the Soul Vault. After hearing what Krushi has to say about what she saw upon the walls, Mentathenis, hesitant to jump to conclusions, recounts tales of a powerful weapon of the celestials, the Blade of the Seraphim, was forged of light. When it’s keeper fell to darkness, the blade followed, becoming the embodiment of evil and death. It became the Wraith Blade. Megilwath, remembers hearing stories in the tavern of Evereth about the gods and their armies at war with each other. Fire and chaos raining from the skies, it’s catalyst, some item of tremendous ability. Even Aces, during her time in the arenas of Tyr had heard bedtime stories about gods of another world. Amaunator and his angelic general Urziel. A weapon gifted by the god and forged on the surface of the sun. Could this really be the legendary corrupted Blade of the Seraphim?

The party climbs back up the way they came to meet with Terrlen and head back to the Seven Pillared Hall.

Upon returning to the Hall, Brugg is quick to approach them, and though happy at first to see Aces, he is perturbed by something. The whispers of the Wraith Blade extend even through space and time, and though Brugg knows not what it is, he is lured in by it’s power. The party assures the confused Ogre that they have nothing that powerful on their persons. The Ogre reluctantly let’s them pass, eyeing them as they split up. Aces to the Halfmoon Inn, Terrlen heads toward the temple of hidden light, and Megilwath, Mentathenis, Krushi and The Maven to Gendar’s with the crown.

When they enter Gendar’s curious shop, the drow hops up and greets them in his sour tone, and asks if they were successful in locating the crown of Thain Cardanas. Megilwath pulls it out of his bag and hands it to the dark elf. Gendar thanks them and pays them 500 gld for their troubles. Suddenly he pulls a dagger from it’s sheath and flings it right passed Megilwath’s head, narrowly missing. It slams into the wall just over Krushi and a tiny, split-open black spider falls on Megilwath’s shoulder.

Gendar comes out and brushes it off Megilwath onto the counter. He remarks “Looks like our people are searching for something. It’s time for me to leave.” He quickly begins packing his things.

Mentathenis uses mage hand to flip the spider over and The Maven notices a small symbol on it’s belly. It appears to to an intricate design of two dark elves back to back a web spans the distance between them. Mentathenis recognizes the symbol as that of House Hun’viir, the drow family that his father Kallorel and Trysta fought against and lost a friend to. They ask Gendar where he will go and he tells them he is heading to the surface. Megilwath points out that it is unwelcoming for a drow on the surface and Gendar says he will take his chances with a few racist humans over a noble drow house paying a visit anywhere near him.

Aces enters the Halfmoon Inn and is greeted by Rendil who is already offering the mul woman ale. eager to hear more stories of their heroic deeds. Surina, also present in the tavern, stands and is drawn towards Aces. She too can feel the pull of the Wraith Blade from within the bag of holding. Aces shrugs her off and the others enter to join their friend. Krushi and Mentathenis explain that they forgot to cut the tails of the Gnolls for the woman, but brough Maldrick Scarmaker’s head instead. She seems happy enough and offers them 250 gold for a fine trophy of their endeavors.

They relax for the rest of the night with Aces being taught how to cook a mean Kruthik Egg meal and Krushi munching on the Halfmoon trail mix. When it’s time, they head up to their free rooms above the tavern and take rest for the night.

The next morning during a light breakfast, again on Erra and Rendil’s gratitude, Terrlen enters holding the hand of a wobbly goblin. Aces’ eyes widen when she realizes that it’s Modreg, recently returned to life! She runs up to hug the somewhat delirious goblin and looks to Terrlen who explains that he paid for the little guy’s resurrection with his own gold, and he hopes his gift to Aces and the party makes up for his failing in protection. She says it more than does so, and she wants very much to help the man become cured of his Lycanthropy. He pauses for a moment and replies that he isn’t so sure he wants to be cured anymore as he is starting to get the hang of the transformation and keep his wits about him in werewolf form. Aces vows to find out any way she can to help him handle and gain more control. Terrlen thanks her and asks that it would be a pleasure to continue to help the heroes in anyway he can.

Skirting around the west edge of the proving grounds, the party heads through the center ring into a room with different colored pools. Mentathenis deducts that each pool does something different when someone drinks from it’s waters. Drinking from the yellow pool poisons, the green pool gives resistance to poison, and the red pool helps a person focus at the cost of their care of defense. The blue pool appears to be inactive.

Moving on to the southern most doorway, they enter a room, with pillars made of different creatures all entwined into one gruesome form. Near the pillars the party sees more Carnage Demons in waiting.

Following their normal routine, Aces and Megilwath charge into the room and begin melee against the demons, Krushi, Mentathenis and The Maven, mostly sit still and cast their powers from safety. A couple more Carnage Demons and another Barlgura enter the fray and give Aces a bit of a hard time. Meanwhile, the pillars seem to have a life of their own and cast negative effects and damaging spells against the heroes.

When the demons are finally slain, they all move past the pillars towards an altar in the rear of the area. Upon the altar, sits the Bell of Fury’s Calling. Aces picks it up and spikes go through her hand. They also remember what the three spirits mentioned to them about a treasure being hidden underneath the altar. Unfortunately, they are unable to locate any secret compartments, and in a disappointing defeat vs. hidden treasure, Aces destroys the altar and they all mope back to the proving grounds.

Now having all four of the items needed to open the doors to the inner sanctum, they split up and head to the different runic circles. Krushi heads to the pool room, Mentathenis heads to a room with shackled skeletons, Megilwath moves back to the statue gallery, and Aces and The Maven team up and head to the sacrifice room. On a count of three, they all place the four items on the runic circles and blue light engulfs them each, causing them to disappear.

Immediately after, the doors exiting the grounds slam shut, the traps in the complex activate and a screeching draconic roar echoes through the proving grounds. A spinning whirlpool rises up out of the blue pool in Krushi’s room. The shackled skeletons in Mentathenis’ room begin squirming on the ground. Two crossbows descend from the ceiling in Megilwath’s room and howling terrors rise up from the sacrificial altar in front of Aces and The Maven. A giant Doom Sphere can be heard rolling around the center ring and the flapping of wings draws closer. Aces and the Maven head to meet up with Megilwath who starts taking shots from the crossbows. Myst, the Shadow Dragon swoops in behind the mul and elf giving chase. Krushi is sucked in by the whirlpool trap and gets held by the swirling water. Mentathenis has trouble moving passed the grasping phalanges of the many skeletons littering the floor.

After a few failed attempts to get out of their rooms, Krushi and Mentathenis, both injured by their respective traps, rejoin with the others to start fighting off Myst in the statue gallery. Megilwath focuses on disabling the crossbow turrets. The shadow dragon sprays her necrotic breath, slices with her sharpened claws and attempts to rip into the party members with her jagged teeth. Giant globes of darkness are dropping all over and the dragon seems to teleport between them, keeping the heroes on their toes. During the fight, Megilwath suffers some serious wounds and has to stay back. Krushi, still reeling from her troubles in the pool room continues casting her spells even so near falling unconscious. Myst has heard tell of these adventurers and wants to deliver their bodies to her master, Aurgloroasa as a gift. After a while the traps in the proving grounds shut down and all the doors in the complex reopen. The party continues their battle with the unruly young shadow dragon.

Mentathenis decides to summon his Obsidian Steed, and in a burst of black smoke the great black horse appears. It looks around, seemingly disoriented and stares the eladrin down. It charges him and he is knocked into the astral plane rolling over his back into a grassy field. When he stands, he is on a small floating moat wandering the astral sea. The Obsidian Steed charges again and rears up striking the eladrin with it’s hooves. he retaliates with two magic missiles and the horse again kicks him, knocking him back into the proving grounds. The Obsidian figurine falls next to him.

The fight with Myst has moved towards the center of the proving grounds and she has become bloodied by the party. Mentathenis rejoins the fight. Knowing her chances of defeating the heroes are slim, she retreats back into the pit from whence she came. A roar of defeat echoes up from below.

The party returns to the pillar room. Sifting through the rubble that remains of the altar, they notice an out of place tile that was overlooked the first time around. Perhaps, in the destruction of the altar, a piece of the debris fell upon the floor and cracked the tile just enough to reveal a secret compartment underneath! Aces pulls up the tile to find a small lock box that Megilwath and The Maven work together to open. They find a pair of Bracers of Defense.

On their way South, Terrlen taps Aces on the shoulder and finding it very hard to look the mul woman in the eye, he apologizes for being unable to save Modreg. He feels horrible, and even though he tried to force the transformation to werewolf form, it didn’t come fast enough. He asks permission to make camp outside of the Well of Demons so that he may reflect on his failings as a guide. Aces makes sure that the man will be safe and allows him to return to the entrance.

The party continues and enters the doors to the south. They are greeted by three spirits of former adventurers, Valdrog the Brave, a human cleric, Sir Terris, a dwarven paladin and Mendara a human wizard. The three heroes were all done in by the dragon guardian, and ask that the heroes prove their good intentions and that they are strong enough to overcome the dangers ahead. In return the spirits promise important information about what they will face within the Proving Grounds.

Aces demonstrates her prowess in melee combat showing unrivaled strength in battle, Krushi speaks words of compassion and empathy for the spirit’s misfortune within the grounds and appeals to the three spirit’s soft side. Mentathenis dazzles Mendara and her fallen companions with demonstrations in the arcane, and The Maven and Megilwath show that love can stand tall against all things no matter how dark the world becomes.

The three spirits tell the party all that they know about the proving grounds. They speak of traps and the guardian, a Shadow Dragon named Myst. When asked about the Dracolich they saw flying under the bridge of the Horned Hold, the spirits explain that Myst is the ward of the Dracolich. Her name is Aurgloroasa, The Sibilant Shade, who’s lair lies under the Well of Demons in an abandoned dwarven city known as Thunderholm. After their questions are answered, Valdrog kneels before the heroes and begins a prayer to Selune, when he is finished, his spirit body breaks apart into wisps of energy and flies into each, reinvigorating them.

Mendara and Sir Terris are shocked that Valdrog would do such a thing, but wish the adventurers luck, bid them farewell, and fade into nothingness.

Now knowing about the locations surrounding the proving grounds, Aces and Megilwath lead the party to the west and through a northern door. Inside they find a large room filled with mirrors scattered about. As Aces enters the room, she looks into a mirror and her reflection turns to a black shadow of herself, reaching through and grabbing her, sucking her into the mirror. Worried for Aces, Krushi runs up to the same mirror, getting pulled through as well.

Megilwath, Mentathenis and The Maven make their way around the room without looking in any mirrors, and behind some curtains they discover an altar guarded by two large minotaur skeletons. Aces and Krushi find themselves in an oubliette with a single mirror facing down their shadow selves. They discover they can only hit their own shadow and that their dark reflection mimics everything they do! Megilwath rushes in past the Minotaur skeletons and turns them around, The Maven follows and Mentathenis pulls the curtains closed to avoid any attacks from the mirrors. With a little work, the two undead fall, and they locate the Face of Baphomet on the altar. Aces defeats her shadow and Krushi nearly destroys hers but is knocked unconscious before she can finish it. Aces picks Krushi up and puts her in the Bag of Holding, causing a paradox and exploding Krushi’s shadow self.

She walks over to the mirror and is transported out of the oubliette to rejoin her friends. Aces removes the halfling from the Bag of Holding and The Maven bandages her wounds.

Once Krushi is feeling better, the party makes their way around the west edge of the proving grounds through a crumbling statue gallery and into the Hall of the Crimson Axe. The Hall is filled with blood with various sized platforms scattering the area that rise five feet above the blood. Two giant bronze Minotaur Statues wielding large axes stand on their own platforms. Two small platforms across the large room each have a piece of a dagger upon it. The left has the hilt, the right has the blade.

Megilwath jumps across to the first Minotaur statue’s platform and the giant statue activates, swinging it’s huge axe in a giant arc, large enough to reach the others still by the door. Krushi, the Maven and Mentathenis focus on damaging the statues, while Megilwath and Aces make their way across the room jumping from platform to platform. Mentathenis also uses his Mage Hand and sends it out across the blood pools to attempt to grab the pieces.

Three Carnage Demons rise out of the blood and attack Aces on the middle walkway. She fights them back and they eventually move back into the blood when Mentathenis grabs the blade with his Mage Hand. One Carnage Demon springs out of the crimson lake and swats the blade out of the Mage Hand, it flies behind a Minotaur Statue platform and sinks into the blood pool. After a game of hide and go seek in the blood with the Carnage Demons, they are finally destroyed along with the statues, and without too many wounds inflicted upon the heroes. Megilwath and Aces search the blood and eventually find the blade and Mentathenis attaches it to the hilt. They form the Bloodhorn Blade and head back across the blood pools to return to the proving grounds.

Aces listens through the double doors and hears the yelping of hyenas and gnolls. Before they charge in, a large quake rocks the Well of Demons, it causes the walls to crack and floors to roll. Dust and debris begins to fall from the ceiling. Megilwath and The Maven are knocked over on the unsteady floor. The quake goes on for 15 seconds and then dissipates. The party regains their senses and Aces charges into the room, noticing a group of four gnoll huntsmasters to her right, she heads in their direction, and jumps over a makeshift barricade of broken furniture and crates.

Four hyenas rush out from around a large cage that a dire boar is being held in for target practice. They rush up on Megilwath and The Maven, with Krushi and Mentathenis hanging back in the hallway and launching their attacks from there. Aces endures some injuries, but the party emerges victorious.

Mentathenis senses the presence of magic hidden somewhere within the barricade. He also feels a sharp pain, from an unknown source that feels as though it pierces his very soul. Megilwath attempts to locate the magical item and discovers a Charm Bracelet in a broken cupboard.

The Maven plays a lullaby to sooth the dire boar. After a short while, she manages to calm the beast enough to pet it’s snout, and the party drags the corpses of the gnolls and hyenas into the cage for it to eat.

The party continues to the north to encounter another gnoll huntsman, two gnoll marauders and four more hyenas in a mess hall, kennel and barracks area. Using a bottleneck strategy they make quick work of the cackling creatures. One of the hyenas surrenders and Aces ties a rope around it to give to Modreg as a gift and the little goblin is very happy. Buried under the hay of the kennel, Mentathenis discovers a Cloak of Resistance +2.

Once they have searched the barracks area, they head south to find a Shrine to Baphomet. When they rush in, they get into a battle with a gnoll scourge, a barlurga, and two tiefling darkblades. Krushi uses her Fan of the Four Winds to keep the barlurga at bay and Megilwath and the Maven help out. Aces and Mentathenis go for the scourge. When the fight concludes, the creatures are all dead and the companions locate a locked chest which Krushi explodes with lightning to find a pair of Shadowfell Gloves. Mentathenis finds the Book of Wrath Unveiled upon the alter to Baphomet. The Maven notices blood rushing towards them from behind. The hyena that Aces gave to Modreg as a gift ate the poor goblin. Terrlen, having transformed into a werewolf, killed the hyena in retaliation.

Aces is furious that her little buddy died and starts destroying the shrine. When she is finally calmed down by her friends, they continue back the way they came and take the corridor to the south.

Mentathenis emerges from his meditation and is greeted by Phaledra, who makes sure he is feeling well. Though most of his body from the chest down is still numb and tingling from being resurrected, he is able to stand with the priestess’ help and she leads him towards the door of his room and down the stairs into the tavern of the Halfmoon Inn.

Being early in the morn, the tavern is mostly empty save for his friends. Aces and Megilwath are playing cards and attempting to teach Modreg to stop eating those he is dealt. Terrlen looks on while gulping down some ale and Krushi shares in a bit of trail mix with Rendil at the bar. Erra is busy behind the counter as usual, cleaning her mugs and plates and the soft strum of a lute can be heard from the corner where The Maven is practicing her tunes.

Terrlen looks up and greets the eladrin as he is coming down the stairs and Megilwath stands to clap. Everyone joins in to welcome him back from his quick run in with death.

After another full breakfast, courtesy of Erra and Rendil, the party gathers their things and sets off to brave the Labyrinth once again.

Terrlen cautiously guides them around the edge of the cisterns this time, and into the twisting passages. After a few minutes trek through the winding corridors, the party stumbles across a group of three wraiths and a gelatinous cube. With nary a scratch, they make quick work of them all and find a stone tablet that appears to have a treasure map engraved upon it.

They continue on, and eventually make their way to the first of the locations Surina described on the map she gave to Krushi and Mentathenis. Megilwath notices what looks to be a vague semblance of an archway within the rocky wall. Mentathenis detects the residual effects of a magical ritual upon the area, but they are unable to find their way through. They decide to continue on to the second location and discover the same thing. Moving towards the third, there is a definite magical aura upon the wall. Megilwath pushes on the rocky wall and finds he can walk fight through as if no rock were there at all. The party follows.

When they enter the entry way of the Well of Demons, Megilwath feels a slight vibration under his feet, and sees that much of the floor in the room before them appears to be up torn. They also notice 5 pillars around the square room, each one has a relief of a Minotaur carved out of it. When Aces moves in, the Minotaur carvings animate and pull partially away from their pillars, together in a booming voice they say…

Greetings seekers of Baphomet’s boundless glory.Those who prove unworthy of his attentionShall be claimed forever as his slaves.Those who prove worthyShall be granted power beyond mortal reckoning.Mask, Bell, Blade, and Tome.

Aces moves in further and a giant phallager tentacle errupts out of the floor near her. The same happens for Megilwath as he follows. Three other creatures, a ghoul and two chokers emerge from hiding behind three of the pillars and converge on the mul and drow.

Krushi, Mentathenis and The Maven stay in the hallway and launch their attacks from there. After a tough fight, the party bests the the undead and fey, and successfully remove and destroy all four of the phallager’s appendages, sending it rumbling away, alive, but defeated.

The party takes a quick breather and Mentathenis notices that the walls of the Well of Demons appear to phase in and out of another plane. As though the barrier between this world and the next is breaking down, just as they had seen in Shadowfell Keep as they neared the subterranean cathedral and Kalarel’s ritual.

Mentanthenis feels a chill wash over his body as though something unwholesome has swept into his soul. He can make out the whisper of a voice as it happens and immediately casts Root Understanding. The voice said “You are mine.” He alerts the party of what he experienced.

Aces sends Megilwath ahead to scout the two corridors branching off to the east and south of the entry room. The drow puts his ear to each door he comes across and hears the yelps and laughs of hyena-like creatures beyond. , he returns to the party and they decide to attempt to shim the first set of doors and move on to the second…

The party awakes early the next morning when Rendil knocks on their doors to deliver his aunt Erra’s famous breakfast, Kruthik Eggs and Labyrinth Links. After eating, they head off in search of the location marked on the map they received from Charrak the previous night.

Upon arriving, the passage opens into a larger cavern with a raised ledge to one side and three large boulders. Megilwath points out that it can only be an ambush, and he and Aces move into the room. Taking in their surroundings the two notice what appears to be a Bronze Minotaur hiding unsuccessfully, behind one of the boulders. At that moment, two tieflings who were hidden upon the upper ledge spring up and begin attacking the Mul and Drow. The Bronze Warder rushes out from his hiding spot and slams into another boulder wedging it into the passageway mostly blocking the exit. Knowing heir friends are in trouble, Krushi, Mentathenis and the Maven attempt to push the boulder out of the way but its a little too large for them to budge further than a foot or two. It’s enough for Mentathenis to Fey Step to the other side and Krushi and the Maven climb their way over through a two foot gap between the top of the boulder and the passage ceiling.

Megilwath manages to make his way up to the raised ledge to harass the two tieflings while the Bronze Warder continues to plow over and cleave the rest of the party. Once the two tieflings are killed off, they all focus on the Warder. Krushi is particularly effective against the construct with her Lightning piercing, and after a few thunderous attacks and bolts, the Bronze Minotaur is shut down.

Searching the bodies of the tieflings, Mentathenis uncovers two letters and an amulet of command. One of the letters is a message from the missing mage Paldemar to the two henchmen telling them to do away with the adventurers quickly. The other is a message addressed to Maldrick Scarmaker of the Blackfang Gnolls. It is an offering of the corpses of the party to the Gnoll Chieftan.

Aces pushes the boulder out of the way far enough for the party to rejoin with Modreg and Terrlen, and they all continue on towards the Well of Demons. Terrlen leads the party on a short cut that takes them down into the cisterns again. As they round a bend near one of the underground pools, a pack of Kruthiks comes swarming towards them.

Aces immediately rushes forward with Megilwath to attempt a bottleneck between two large rocky crags. The Hive Lord moves up to the two and spews acid all over, which splashes past them hitting Krushi and the Maven as well. The five Kruthik adults move forward and burrow under the two on the front line. Everyone begins unleashing attacks on the Hive Lord, when the adults reemerge in the middle of the party. They slash at the halfling, elf, mul and drow. Mentathenis manages to stay away from the slicing claws. Again the Hive lord emits a blast of acid all over the party. The adults manage to split the party even more, ripping at Krushi and the Maven pushing them back. After more acid and clawing the Maven falls unconscious, but is revived by the help of Krushi and Megilwath. Mentathenis is pushed back by two Kruthiks and chased down relentlessly until he falls unconscious. Modreg is able to administer a potion of healing to the eladrin reviving him. Krushi gets chased down as well, and knocked unconscious by a hungry adult. Mentathenis attempts to attack two Kruthik Adults on Aces, and draws their attention back to him. They burrow away from Aces and emerge to rip into and lay out Mentathenis a second time. Megilwath makes his way to Krushi and stabilizes her then manages to give her some bandaging. Aces finishes off the Hive Lord and turns her attention toward the adults. The Maven rushes over to help Mentathenis and is able to get him up, but he makes the mistake of attempting to crawl away, and once again the Kruthiks give chase. They slash into him and the Eladrin perishes. One of the Kruthiks immediately begins consuming the body. The Maven runs back around to the other side of the crags to avoid the carnage and help Aces and Megilwath. Krushi flings volleys of her lightning and thunder into the reptilian creatures, and the Mul and Drow work together to slowly pick off the rest including the one eating Mentathenis’ corpse.

When the battle is done, they gather what’s left of the eladrin and the Kruthik’s carapaces and rush back to the Temple of Hidden Light in the Seven Pilared Hall. The priestess Phaledra greets them and tells them she can bring their friend back from the dead for the price of 500 gold. They agree and she begins the Raise Dead ritual.

In the fog of death, Mentathenis can make out the image of his father Kallorel Starfeon, who looks as though he is lost, even more so than usual. His eyes are vacant and staring through his son’s soul. His image wisps away to be replaced by the image of another Eladrin. This one female with shining silver hair and crystal blue eyes. she turns towards Mentathenis as if alerted that he is in danger.

When Mentathenis awakes, he talks about his visions with Phaledra and as the fog thins, he realizes that the woman is a cohort and old friend of his father. Her eladrin name is Saranine Lunathalia, but her true name is Saranathia, The Radiant Dawn. She is not actually an eladrin at all but a venerable silver dragon. Krushi and Megilwath wait patiently while Mentathenis ponders these visions, then they help him up and head to the Halfmoon Inn.

Aces, Modreg and Terrlen visit Gendar to give him the Kruthik carapaces, and he is shocked that they came through for him so quickly. He offers the team another job going after a tarnished silver crown that an insane dwarf of the labyrith named Thain Cardanas, carries on his person.

The mul agrees and the three also head back to the inn to recover and fight another day.

The party arrives back in the Seven Pillared Hall to some amount of commotion near the minotaur statue in the center of town. Once pushing through the crowd they see a man kneeling before an animated Bronze Minotaur construct and another man standing by, wearing a black robe and a featureless gold mask over his face. The masked man turns to the crowd and identifies the kneeling man as a thief who made and attempt to pillage the recently abandoned Grimmerzhul Trading Post, now sentenced to death. With a wave of his hand, the Bronze Minotaur lifts it’s axe high over it’s head and in a single swing, decapitates the thief.

Terrlen explains to Megilwath and Aces that the dark robed figure is called The Ordinator Arcanis, a sort of justice keeper within the hall. Aces approaches the Ordinator as the crowd is dispersing and asks what is to become of the Trading Post. The Ordinator dismisses it as of no interest to the Mages of Saruun and lets Aces know that if they want anything out of it, they are free to take what they will. Seemingly strange that they just killed a man for attempted theft of the very same location, but the party pays it little mind and heads over to see what may be left as Terrlen heads back to the Halfmoon Inn. Inside the post, hidden under one of the mattresses in the back Megilwath finds a small pouch of 50 gold. Mentathenis pours over a carving above the counter but figures it to be a simple sign of little importance.

Aces, Krushi, The Maven, Megilwath, Mentathenis and Modreg then return to Gendar to give him the recovered Skull Scepter. He gives them more information on the missing mage Paldemar and offers them another job collecting Kruthik carapaces from within the labyrinth. Megilwath asks about the nearest entrance into the underdark and Gendar offers to draw a map for 10 gold. Megilwath accepts, and they all head back to the inn. Upon arriving at the Halfmoon, Rendil greets them and informs them that the rescued Winterhaven villagers headed back to the town early that morning, he again praises them on their heroic deeds and reminds them that room and board are on the house. Aces pushes Modreg onto Rendil who takes the little goblin to the bar for drinks and chats him up.

After talking with Terrlen about romantic places within the Hall, The Maven invites Megilwath to accompany her to the waterfalls where there is a cave with beautiful mushrooms and crystal formations. Megilwath agrees and The Maven takes his hand pulling him out of the Inn towards the falls.

Terrlen approaches Mentathenis to tell him about the difficulty in finding the Well of Demons, and that there is one person within the Seven Pillared Hall who can help them. A warlock named Surina, who has heard of the adventurers and doesn’t like that there are two other magic users stealing her show of heroism. Terrlen has arranged a meeting between Surina, Mentathenis and Krushi, in hopes that things can be ironed out, and they might be able to get the information they need from the woman. Once they get the number of her pigeon-hole, the two magic users head out of the inn.

Brugg invites Aces over to his table and greets her excitedly with a nearly alive flower. Aces shares more tales of gladiatorial combat with the ogre over two small barrels of Erra Halfmoon’s mediocre ale. Feeling the effects of the alcohol, Brugg works up the nerve to ask Aces if she would be willing to teach him some combat moves. Aces agrees, and they head out of the inn to practice.

The Waterfalls

The Maven and Megilwath enter the Waterfall caves in awe. Bioluminescent mushrooms of every color pulse with light, reflecting across the crystals and rippling water, creating a kaleidoscope of sparkling lights. The Maven sits on a low ledge over the water and dips her feet in, Megilwath sits down beside her and the two converse about the falls, Megilwath’s past, and the underdark. The Maven slides closer to the dark elf and rests her head on his shoulder. They share a short kiss before they are interrupted by the sound of clapping. Three men have entered the cavern, Megilwath recognizes the leading man as Harwin. One of the men they rescued from the slave pits of the Horned Hold. Harwin makes a cynical remark about the two lovebirds and Megilwath hops to his feet. In seemingly strange behavior, the ex-slave threatens to kill the two elves. When Megilwath questions his motives, Harwin morphs into a pasty skinned, white haired creature with sunken dark eyes…a doppleganger. The same doppleganger that was struck by the drow’s dagger in the Horned Hold. He must have taken the form of the merchant Harwin to escape the Hold alive! The doppleganger reveals that he was working as a spy for the Grimmerzhul.

Megilwath and The Maven both draw their weapons and Harwin and his two lackey’s charge in. With decisive movement, Megilwath jumps the flowing water to bear down on Harwin and begins slicing with his daggers. The Maven stays back to support him with notes of dischord. Harwin goes invisible and the two elves turn their attention on the other two men. Working together, they manage to take them both out without much trouble. Harwin reappears to resume his attack, but is overpowered by the two’s coordination and falls to the ground in a bloody heap. Megilwath searches the body of the shape shifter, to find an Enshrouding Candle.

The two elves return to their ledge within the waterfall cave and quickly forget the rude intrusion to resume where they left off with a passionate kiss. They embrace each other and become another entwining colorful ripple in the reflection of the falls.

Surina’s Challenge

Mentathenis and Krushi knock on Surina’s door and can hear a banging noise accompanied by an annoyed voice behind the door. It is opened by a human woman with dark brown hair and pale blue eyes, who introduces herself as Surina. She invites the eladrin and halfling in to sit on the floor while she showers them in her extraordinary magical prowess and gnoll killing exploits. She also listens intently to the two’s false praise of her amazing abilities, and their pleas for the location of the entrance to the Well of Demons. Surina ponders their request and decides that in order for her to give them the information they seek, they must defeat her in a magical truel. After some hesitation, and Surina’s goading, Mentathenis and Krushi accept.

Mentathenis and Krushi stand together and Surina stands on the opposite side of her small carved out domicile. She warns them both to not go easy on her as she is a fiery force to be reckoned with and will not hold back herself. They immediately begin casting a flurry of spells at each other in explosive bursts of hellfire, lightning and arcane. Some casts find purchase on their target and others fly into rocky walls and destroy Surina’s furniture. The warlock focuses her efforts on taking down Mentathenis and after a few well placed casts, she succeeds in knocking him unconscious. Krushi continues to rip into Surina with streaks of white hot lightning and thunderous damage, finally subduing the warlock and winning the truel. Krushi wakes Mentathenis and they both wake Surina. While the warlock woman is upset that she was defeated, the two magic users have proven themselves worthy of becoming her agents of gnoll slaying, and offers them each a badge and the directions to the entrance of the Well of Demons so that they may kill in her name. She asks them to wait where they are while she pushes her bed aside and lifts up a loose tile in the floor to reveal a ladder into a secret passage. She descends the ladder and twenty minutes later she returns with two more gifts for her agents. A Fan of the Four Winds for Krushi and an Obsidian Steed Figurine for Mentathenis. She then bids them goodbye, pushes them both out her door, and wishes them success in the murder of gnolls everywhere.

Ogre Affection

Aces readies her flaming maul and Brugg pulls out his giant club as Modreg, Rendil, Terrlen and others from the inn come outside to watch the demonstration. Aces starts the session by showing Brugg a combat stance and graceful swing of her maul. Her weapon strikes the ogre in the belly. He attempts to mimic her move by swinging his club wildly and uncontrolled to whack the mul in her side. She spins around and swings again, but narrowly misses, Brugg doesn’t spin but launches another sloppy swing of his club. The large bronze skinned woman locks the ogre in place with a psionic attack and explains to him the importance of gaining the favor of the crowd, who are now cheering wildly. Then she turns and hops up on a bench to gain a running start, and charges the ogre. At the end of the bench, she leaps into the air, maul slicing in a downward arc and smashes into Brugg’s head. The ogre praises Aces on her showmanship and attacks, along with a host of other compliments as he once again swings his club back and forth, managing to hit her once. Aces swings her maul again and slams into the ogre’s gut, he doubles over in pain and happiness. When he regains his breath, he thanks Aces for her training and offers her a small token of his love and respect. A Vagabond’s Die. The two help each other back into the inn and the crowd follows.

When everyone gets back to the Halfmoon Inn they all sit around the largest table and share their stories of the night. Krushi and Mentathenis let their friends know that they have the directions to three entrances of the Well of Demons. The party is briefly interrupted when a kobold panhandler named Charrak enters the inn and approaches the adventurers with a message he was paid to deliver to them. The message is written by someone who is in league with the duergar but requests the heroes help in finding a way out of the organization. The message gives directions to a location within the labyrinth not far from the Hall to meet in secret.

Megilwath chases down Charrak as he leaves the inn to ask him about the one who delivered the message, of which Charrak has little information other than he was a cloaked figure. The drow pays the kobold 5 silver to deliver a message back to the mysterious man to let him know they will meet in the morning.

The adventurers drink into the night until Erra closes the bar. They all head upstairs for a good night’s rest and leave on the morrow for the secret meeting.

Megilwath snaps out of his meditation at Terrlen’s camp just outside of the Horned Hold. A sharp sting upon his left fore arm. When he turns his arm over he notices two little bite marks, as if bitten by a spider. He decides to wake The Maven to see what she can do about it. As she is examining it, it begins to swell and something dark and bulbous begins to wiggle under his skin. The Maven wakes the rest of the party and Megilwath hears something or some things crawling up the cliff face at the edge of their camp.

The spider-like mass under his skin begins to crawl up his arm. Megilwath quickly holds his upper arm to block the creatures path and calls Mentathenis over to him. Handing him his dagger, he tells the Eladrin to cut it out, and fast. Mentathenis complies and slices into the Drow’s arm, blood explodes outward splattering the both of them. No spider can be seen, as if whatever it was has disappeared.

Aces and Krushi turn to see five large, black widow-like spiders crest the edge of the crevace and scurry towards Megilwath. Aces manages to step in front of, and stop one, but the other four make their way to the Dark Elf, and begin snapping their fangs at him.

Krushi and Mentathenis blow them up quickly with their magical abilities causing each one to burst into a black smoke upon death. Then a much larger Spider crawls up over the edge towards the party, It steps over Aces, Krushi and the Maven to go face to face with the drow. Krushi notices that it doesn’t appear to be a normal spider, as it’s head is vaguely shaped like an elf’s but twisted and malformed with the features of an arachnid.

When it pulls its face right up to Megilwath’s he can see that doesn’t just resemble that of an an elf, but it is his own face. His arm begins to throb in pain as blood continues to gush out, slowly turning black and beading up until it has turned into a wave of tiny spiders being expelled from his body.

Megilwath snaps out of his meditation to the feeling of a sharp sting on his arm. When he turns it over he can see a tiny black widow sitting there staring at him over it’s recent bite. He decides to wake The Maven to see what she can do about it. he flicks the small spider off his arm and onto the ground, also interrupting Mentathenis’ meditation to tell him what is going on. Mentathenis locates the small spider and snatches it up with a mage hand. He examines it and comes to the conclusion that it is a natural spider, just before allowing the mage hand to crush it.

After sucking out the poison and being asked what he thinks his visions mean by The Maven, Megilwath determines that he will need to seek out answers from Trysta regarding his past at the party’s next convenience. They all agree, and head back towards the Horned Hold to finish the job.

Aces leads the party back to the double iron doors that they were unable to get through, and notices that the wooden shims they wedged under the doors were reduced to splinters and the doors had since been unlocked and were now slightly ajar.

They push through the doors to find a small alcove with two more sets of doors. The doors to the left they assume lead back into the slave pits and the doors ahead of them must be where Murkelmor is. Megilwath listens through the doors to hear some duergar voices arguing. Mentathenis uses ghost sound to impersonate one of the spined devils, Marshk. The duergar don’t fall for the trickery and form up for a fight. Aces crashes through the doors and sees a dwarf at the back of the room wielding a giant flaming maul and introduces himself as Rundarr, Duergar Champion. There are also two other duergar shock troopers and a duergar theurge. Murkelmor is nowhere in sight.

Aces heads for Rundarr as Megilwath and the Maven work together on the theurge. Krushi and Mentathenis are left behind to face down the two shock troopers who give them a particularly hard time until Megilwath and Aces move to help. Once the shock troopers and theurge are taken down, they all move in to focus on Rundarr. Megilwath attempts to get the duergar to surrender but to no avail.

Working hard to shake off her injuries from the other duergar, Krushi is able to muster the strength to stand tallish and look Rundarr in the eyes. Without blinking, and using her undeniable charisma and overpowering cuteness she says “You have fought well Rundarr, but I really think it’s time that you surrender.” Rundarr agrees with the Halfling as he is sorely out of practice, and thanks the party for an exhilarating fight, offering Aces his Flaming Maul +2 as such a worthy opponent. He informs them of Murkelmor’s abandoning of the Hold to retreat into the Underdark and then takes his leave.

The party investigates Murkelmor’s chambers and near his bed they find a small locked chest which Megilwath is able to pick open. Inside is an Amulet of Health +2 and around 261 gold.

Once they are sure that the Hold has been cleared, they return to Terrlen’s camp and pack up their stuff to head back to the Seven Pillared Hall.

On their way back to the Hall, the group runs across a band of gnolls, with a Barl’gura, and a small shackled goblin. The large demon rushes forward and slams Aces, Mentathenis drops his Stinking Cloud in the middle of the pack causing them to scatter. The gnoll scourge rushes through the party to attack Krushi. Megilwath and The Maven work together in unison to rip through the enemies and with Aces’s help manage to keep the gnolls getting poisoned by the deadly gas.

One gnoll manages to escape the carnage and disappears into the labyrinth, the goblin is able to remove his handcuffs and introduces himself as Modreg, a wandering explorer who was captured by the gnolls and being brought to the Well of Demons. Aces immediately takes a liking to the little guy and adopts him as her pet.

Investigating the double doors, the party finds them too strong to break through and there is no visible lock to pick from their side. Aces knocks a few times to see if anyone answers, but to no avail.

They decide to head back around the way they came in and try another set of doors that they passed during their first fight in the northern fortress. These doors are crudely boarded and nailed shut. Aces swings her hammer through the obstruction and pushes the doors open. Before them extends a crumbling curved bridge that leads across the chasm and into another section of the northern fortress.

Being sure footed, Megilwath heads out over the chasm to find a safe path around the cracks, holes and loose gravel. When he reaches the other side, he tells the party what parts are dangerous and tells them to come across slowly. Aces and Krushi make their way over the bridge with little trouble. Mentathenis slips on a loose pile of broken stone and falls off balance. One of his legs drops through a crack in the floor, but he manages to grab hold of some jutting stones to catch himself. The Maven, attempting to jump over one of the holes, misjudges her leap and stumbles forward sliding into another large crack. She lands on her belly and begins sliding back through the hole, frantically clawing at the ground in attempt to stop her fall. Megilwath runs out over the bridge, jumps a few dangerous sections in a single bound and slides in to her rescue. He pulls her up and she gazes into his eyes. Still terrified, she falls into his arms trembling and tells him she forgives his torture of the Duergar.

Once reaching the double doors on the far side of the bridge, Aces again breaks through the makeshift barrier of wood and nail to reveal a dark, crumbling room. The ceiling has partially collapsed, rubble is strewn about the floor and a demonic statue stands on a pedestal in it’s center, one of it’s arms has broken off and lies on the ground nearby.

Megilwath cautiously steps into the room and notices, despite the darkness, what shadows he can see start to shift around the room. One slides down the wall to his right and begins to coalesce into a spectral humanoid form beside him. It appears to be a ghostly woman, skin tight on her bones, and lips peeled back in snarl. She lashes out at him with her claws as four more wights appear around the room. Aces and The Maven step forward as Megilwath, still injured from previous fights withdraws behind Krushi and Mentathenis as they hurl spells into the room at the undead creatures. After sending the wights back into the darkness, the party feels quite drained. They attempt to bandage the scratches as best as they can, but are out of ways to tend to each others more serious wounds. Though not in great shape, they decide to press on through the next locked door which Krushi is able to show up Megilwath and The Maven in the art of lock picking.

The next room releases the smell of death and decay, as Aces and Megilwath move in ahead, dust and cobwebs are stirred up in clouds. It appears to be some sort of ancient tomb, as a dozen decaying skeletons of minotaur warriors lay in alcoves along the wall. A large statue of a skeletal Grim Reaper minotaur watches over the entombed. Across the way from the statue is another iron door, but this one has a lock that Megilwath is able to pick, and he moves to the side so Aces can listen through the door. On the other side she can hear two voices talking about tearing out something’s eyes.

They burst into the large room to find that it holds two slave pits and a drinking water pool. They encounter another Duergar Theurge named Framarth, two of his duergar guards and two Spine Devils named Durkkel and Marshk who are still debating tearing out one of the fourteen slaves eyeballs in the pits.

The adventurers attack the duergar and their abyssal allies. Aces in front with The Maven, and Krushi, Menthathenis and the injured Megilwath in back throwing his dagger. Framarth tears up the heroes with his Brimstone and Hail, Vile Fumes and Wave of Despair while both the guards and the devils launch volleys of Spikes and Beard Quills, slowly wearing Aces and the Maven down with burning and poisonous pain. During the fight Krushi and Mentathenis go prone, and Megilwath gets knocked unconscious. Mentathenis gets up and drops his Stinking Cloud into the room causing issues for the evil creatures. Krushi stays huddled under her robes on the ground and is able to talk the two devils out of the fight when they become too injured. The Maven runs back into the tomb to aid Megilwath, She bandages him to the point of consciousness, and gives him a kiss to welcome him back. Mentathenis and Krushi work together with Aces to finish off the two duergar guards and kill Framarth before he escapes.

Only one slave was killed during the fighting, and the party releases the others, including Delphina Moongem of Winterhaven and Harwin the Honest of the Seven Pillared Hall. Delphina thanks the heroes for their heroic bravery in coming to their rescue but tells them that two of the Winterhaven slaves were sold to a group of Gnolls called the Blackfangs, and were taken to a place called the Well of Demons. Harwin says he can lead the others back to the Hall. Krushi lets the two Devils go after Aces asks where Murkelmor is. They point to the next room before leaving quickly.

Too badly injured to go on to tackle the duergar leader, they decide to shim up the doors around Murkelmor’s room to attempt to trap him inside, and then head back to the camp that Terrlen set up, just around the bend from the main entrance to the Horned Hold. When they get back they find Terrlen with a small fire burning and the corpses of three creatures. An Orc, and the two Devils. It seems when they attempted to flee the Hold Terrlen’s Lycanthropic side emerged and defended itself. Terrlen offers a sincere apology for killing those they let go, and the party takes an extended rest in preparation for their confrontation with Murkelmor.

The party opens the double doors and sees a stone bridge extending across the deep chasm to the northern fortress. Megilwath feels a slight tremble in the ground, slowly growing bigger and bigger until the others can feel the tremors as well.

They decide to push across the bridge as fast as they can. Aces and Megilwath reach the door at the other end and notice movement inside, something is taking aim at them with a crossbow like device. Megilwath drops a globe of darkness on both he and Aces and a bolt zips between them. Aces attempts to break through the door but it’s too solidly built. Suddenly a crash is heard somewhere down in the cavern below them. A huge draconic form is headed towards them out of the darkness, as it draws closer it appears to be skeletal, a dracolich, it sweeps just under the bridge the party is on, and with a roar dissapears into the black again.

After they shake off the horror, and attempt to understand what just happened, Mentathenis uses Mage Hand to reach inside the doors and release the locking bar. Aces throws open the doors to find a few Duergar Guards, a Duergar Theurge and a couple animated arbalesters.

The five charge into the room and fight, after a particularly bloody battle with Aces being knocked unconscious twice, they narrowly emerge with their lives.

They take a quick breather before moving on around the western wall of the complex. When throwing open another set of doors, the party sees a ghost white skinned man peering from behind a third set of double doors, he attempts to shut them, but before he can, Megilwath throws his dagger through the narrowing crack and sticks the man in the shoulder. He yelps in pain and the dagger returns to Gil’s hand. Aces charges down the hallway and throws open the doors to a recreation room full of 4 orcs and an ogre. The pasty man is nowhere in sight.

Aces backs up and the ogre charges down after her. The orcs fall in behind and begin throwing their handaxes. Krushi and Mentathenis take advantage of their opponents’ tight grouping, and rip through them with a couple Chaos Bolts and A Shock Sphere.

Aces holds off the attacks while Megilwath throws his dagger from cover and The Maven plays some ear bleeding notes to throw the evil creatures off guard. Before long the ogre falls and one of the orcs escapes through a set of Iron doors in the recreation room. The other three orcs shortly follow the ogre in death.

Again the group attempts to take rest while searching the area. They find another portcullis that leads back into the Labyrinth, and in a side chamber, they discover a solid wooden chest. When Megilwath fails to pick the lock, and Aces is unable to bust it open by force, The Maven tries her hand at fiddling with the lock picks. Being a jack of all trades, she pops it open with ease. Contained within is 40 gold and 3 gems.

After realizing that the map the Duergar scribbled for them would not be of much help, and promising The Maven that they would all do their best to not torture anyone else in the future, they all decide to head back to the Seven Pillared Hall.

Once back within the Hall, they head to the Halfmoon Inn for a few drinks and to check in with Rendil for any information on getting to the Horned Hold. Rendil informs Megilwath that he does not know the location of the Hold personally, but he recommends that they hire a man named Terrlen Darkseeker to act a their guide. Aces notices the ogre Brugg sitting alone and grumbling to himself and decides to approach him with offerings of ale and gladiatorial stories. The Maven sits herself upon a stool and begins to play a few songs for the patrons of the tavern. Mentathenis, Megilwath and Krushi find Terrlen in the corner of the Halfmoon with his hat pulled over his brow and his feet up on his table, asleep. Mentathenis makes an attempt to wake the man by using ghost sound, to no avail. Krushi decides to order herself and the sleeping man a shot and as soon as it’s placed under his nose, he wakes, and is more than happy to have Krushi’s company over a drink.

After Krushi talks the man into guiding the party to the Hold for 5 gold per head, half up front and half when they are returned safely, they decide to head out, but not before Rendil stops them to let them know that he just heard tell of the Grimmerzhul Duergar of the trading post buying up lot’s of foodstuffs and supplies from Dreskin the provisioner. Aces thinks that the Duergar most likely bought the supplies to care for their recently acquired batch of slaves.

The party, now 6 strong with their guide Terrlen, leave through the Dragon Door once again and head down the ledgeway into the cavernous cistern lakes. upon reaching the beds, Terrlen stops short and complains that he doesn’t feel well. Suddenly, and seemingly against his will, he transforms into a werewolf and attacks the adventurers.

Though he is a vicious adversary in his werewolf form, the team manages to subdue Terrlen without much trouble. When he falls to the ground he has no memory of what just happened. Talking things through with the man, the five discover that he may have been cursed on one of his expeditions while exploring an area of the Labyrinth known as the House of Silence. If they were able to somehow discover the cause and reverse it, Terrlen may be cured of his affliction.

Once their guide has gathered his senses, they continue on to the Horned Hold. The cave system opens into a vast cavern, and the adventurers wind their way along a twisted path around a 300 foot deep crack in the earth. Terrlen takes the time to give a short history lesson on the Hold and before long they arrive. He lets the party know that he will set up a camp in an out-of-the-way alcove while they conduct their business within the Stronghold, and await their return for the trip back.

The entrance to the Hold is protected by a metal gate and beyond it can be seen a host of Orcs keeping watch. Through some failed attempts at subterfuge, and negotiation on the party’s part, the Orcs attack the adventurers from behind they gate. After a short but bloody battle, they defeat the Orcs and Aces smashes down the gate with her hammer.

Making their way to the forge area the five encounter a few Duergar including Urwol the Master Smith and a couple more Orc lackeys. The party gets a little torn up by the evil dark dwarves, but eventually emerges victorious. They allow the remaining Orc to leave with his life when he reveals to the party where the Winterhaven slaves are being kept. The party decides to cross the bridge across the cavern to the north part of the hold, following the Orc’s directions to the slave pits.

After speaking with Gendar, the party returned to the Halfmoon Inn to confirm the directions Rendil provided them to get to the Chamber of Eyes, in which the Bloodreavers hide out. They gather their things and set off, but are stopped abruptly by Brugg the Ogre who announces that someone would like to speak with them. They are introduced to Orontor, one of the Mages of Saruun who asks them to look into the case of the missing Mage Paldemar. If they could return with any information on his whereabouts and dealings they would gain the favor of Orontor’s brotherhood.

Once agreeing to help Orontor, they set off into the Labyrinth from the Seven Pillared Hall via the Dragon Door, make their way along the prospectors’ routes marked with old Dwarven runes and eventually arriving at the Narthex of the Chamber of Eyes.

Gaining access to the Chamber through an unlocked door on a balcony ledge, the group dispatch a few Goblins and a Bugbear without alerting the rest of the complex. They then make their way into the Reflectory which now serves as a dining room and kitchen for the Bloodreavers. They fight off and defeat the many denizens of the mess hall, including Hobgoblins, Goblins and a few Human bandits.

Making their way around the Shrine area, they encounter two Duergar, which they are able to subdue and tie up before they are spotted by a Hobgoblin who alerts the rest of the Chamber to their presence. Krand, the Hobgoblin Chief emerges from his quarters and is delighted to have visitors that he may sell as slaves. He enters into the Shrine and a deep howl is heard by the party.

Mentathenis heads for the Shrine and throws wide the doors, inside the large room he sees Krand who has mounted atop a Dire Wolf, three Hobgoblin Archers, and a Warcaster on an upper balcony. Mentathenis takes three arrows to the chest and is laid out. The others arrive at the Shrine to help Mentathenis and take on the Hobgoblins. After a bloody battle, Aces, Krushi, Megilwath, Mentathenis and The Maven emerge victorious.

Searching Krand, they find a key which is used to unlock a chest in his room. The chest contains +2 delver’s chainmail and some gems. Searching through Krand’s quarters they also discover a letter, the letter is written in common and is a contract to purchase the Winterhaven slaves for 1,000 gold, signed by Murkelmor Grimmerzhul, dated two days ago.

They return to the tied up Duergar and attempt to question them. They are both extremely hard headed and refuse to do much talking regarding the slaves. Megilwath kills one to get the other talking, and he mentions the Horned Hold, when asked to draw directions to the Hold, the Duergar refuses and thrusts his hands into the nearby fire pit. The party then forces him to draw up the map with a piece of charcoal in his mouth. Mentathenis then hits the dark dwarf with a magic missile and kills him off. The Maven is traumatized by the whole ordeal.

About an hour’s travel later they reach the branching Vale Road, a small semi-cobbled path that winds up into the mountain peak. The skies are grey and stormy. Rain begins to fall as they reach the Minotaur Gate, a large opening that marks the mouth of the Labyrinth, two giant minotaur statues sit on either side, glowering down at the visitors.

They head inside and down the switchback Hall of Lanterns, demon statues are carved out of the walls, 77 of them in all. They pass by a number of branching antechambers and halls and finally come across one that is lit. Upon investigation, they discover a group of Hobgoblins who are keeping a halfling bound and ready to be sold into slavery. They party enters the chamber and defeats the Hobgoblins, whom they learn from Rendil Halfmoon, the halfling captive are a part of the Bloodreavers. Rendil thanks the adventurers for saving him and asks that they accompany him to the Seven Pillared Hall where is aunt owns an inn. They follow Rendil into the hall as he explains to them a bit about the hall, it’s history and it’s inhabitants.

They arrive at the Hall and Rendil escorts them past Brugg, the Ogre who keeps the peace at the request of the Mages of Saruun and into the Halfmoon Inn. Erra the owner of the inn thanks them for Rendil’s rescue and offers free ale to the party. They ask that Rendil draw them a map to the Bloodreaver’s hideout called the Chamber of Eyes. The party has a conversation with the two halflings about the Seven Pillared Hall and a possible guide to the labyrinth in a man named Terrlen. They then ask that Rendil show them to Gendar’s shop, a drow merchant at the interest of Megilwath.

As they cross the Hall, see a bronze minotaur statue with a glowing teleportation circle which Rendil describes as the way the Mages of Saruun get in and out of their tower. Beyond the circle lies Gendar’s, they enter, and despite him being somewhat on guard with Megilwath, they learn that he is a self exiled drow, who works as a merchant. He offers them a job seeking out a skull scepter that he lost at the hands of the duergar within a place called the Horned Hold. In addition, if they discover any interesting relics within the labyrinth, he will pay for them with information.

Aces sits down to play cards with some of the patrons and Krushi orders up a glass of Salvana’s finest wine. Athena enters to join the others with Droggle in tow, she approaches Mentathenis to inform him that her clerical order has asked her return to Baldur’s Gate to report on what transpired with the death cult and that she will be leaving in the morning. She and Droggle say their goodbyes and head up to their rooms to rest. Megilwath still eyeing The Maven locks eyes with her and she gives him a flirtatious smirk, despite having noticed his dark skin. When she finally rests eyes upon Methathenis however, she looks positively horrified, her rhythm speeds up for a split second and then she immediately slows way down and changes to another song entirely, almost a lullaby, though now her voice clearly shaking.

After a few minutes, Megilwath and Mentathenis catch themselves feeling very sleepy and notice that indeed all the other patrons of the tavern are as well. They both start to suspect magic at work. Megilwath casually stands up to attempt to outdistance the Maven’s beautiful notes. And sure enough, once he plugs his ears, his energy begins to return to him. Mentathenis notices the Maven begin to squirm in her stool, her face full of fear and desperation. She stops playing in the middle of her song and bolts out the side door of the tavern.

Megilwath and Mentathenis head after her, and Krushi and Aces follow suit. Behind Wrafton’s, Megilwath concludes that the only way she could have gone and disappeared so fast is into the sewers. They all head down the ladder and drop into the sewer. A scream from the Maven comes echoing from somewhere up ahead. The party is attacked by a group of Dire rats that were roused by the young elf woman running through. Aces, Krushi, and Mentathenis try to take control of them, and Megilwath attempts to catch up to the girl, He runs down the corridor and turns another corner, still not seeing her. A group of snakes pours out of a pipe to Megilwath’s right. He is bitten by one and drops a Cloud of Darkness on top of them to make a retreat to the rest of his friends and help with the rats. The snakes are drawn by another scream from the Maven and slither away.

After a tough fight and being badly shredded by the rats, the party finally defeats them and decides to head out of the sewers until they can get a rest. Before turning in for the night Krushi alerts the town guard of the troubles in the sewers and they let her know that they will investigate it. They then head back into Wrafton’s to rest.

The next morning Valthrun knocks on their door and reveals all that he was able to dig up on the Thunder Peaks and it’s Labyrinth. Then one of the town guard arrives and let’s the adventurers know that one of their men has gone missing into the sewers during his investigation. The party heads to the guard house to speak with the head guardsman about their failings in protecting the town and handling it’s threats.

After berating the town guard for a while and pushing for payment in exchange for taking care of the sewer problem, the guardsman heads to the temple to beg for help from Sister Linora, who returns with two Potions of Healing which she offers freely and gratefully for all their help.

They had back into the sewers and immediately discover the unconscious guardsman at the bottom of the ladder. They manage to bind his snake bitten arm and escort the woozy guardsman to Salvana, who agrees to get him to the temple.

Pushing further into the sewers, they smell cooking meat and hear music being played. Around a bend, they can see the Maven of Strings, her legs tied to a chair and playing a song for a wererat who seems to be happily dancing. a few vipers are roasting on a spit over a fire in the corner. Megilwath sneaks in and attacks the wererat, sending him fleeing into the corner near a large pipe. The rat man calls for help from his minions, and the party faces down a group of Dire Rats and a Rat Swarm.

They focus their efforts on the wererat, and upon being bloodied, he orders his minions to stop attacking and begins to beg for his life. Megilwath knocks him unconscious and they all move to the bound Maven. Aces quickly snatches the Lute from her and sticks it into her Bag of Holding. After questioning her about her actions in the inn, she reveals that she thought Mentathenis to be someone else, an Eladrin named Aramil Lantherval who she was to be married to in an arrangement by her father. She fled from Silverymoon to play her music, and took on the name Maven of Strings to stay hidden. After the mistaken identity problem is overcome, they offer the Maven the chance to travel with them to play music and give them a hand in their adventures. She accepts.

They awake the wererat, who they learn is named Twitch, and did not mean harm to the Maven, he only wanted to add her to his collection of pretty and interesting trinkets and things. Mentathenis senses some magic within a pipe nearby and investigates it. It appears to be behind a wall or in another part of the sewer entirely. When they mention it to Twitch, he says he can give them magics, if they are willing to trade for trinkets. Aces offers up the wooden toy sword, the hairbrush and the child’s doll that they found in the Keegan chest within Shadowfell Keep. He agrees, and pulls aside a stone from the wall where he pulls out 15 or so swords tied to a rope. One of them happens to be a Vicious Short Sword +1.

They take the sword, warn Twitch to behave and that they will not alert the people of Winterhaven of his presence in the sewers.

On the path south back through the woods towards Winterhaven, the party hears a woman’s scream from somewhere off to their right. They follow its direction to a small flowered clearing, and discover a bloodied necklace. Megilwath notices some tracks leading out the opposite side of the clearing into the woods and follow them for a ways until they are lost at the edge of a river.

They head back down the path to the Village and are greeted by a few guards , Lord Padraig, Sister Linora and Valthrun. They party is led to a small house where the body of Ninaran lies. They are questioned in regards to her death, and reveal that a man who discovered her in the graveyard, was blaming them. After a bit of explaining, Lord Padraig is convinced that the elf woman’s death was necessary and the group’s motives were for good. He announces a feast in the victorious heroes names at Wrafton’s.

Aces shows Linora the bloodied necklace and she recognizes it as Delphina Moongem’s, an elven woman who lives within Winterhaven and sells flowers from her cart. Mentathenis brings forth a letter from a group of slavers known as the Bloodreavers from the Thunder Peaks written to Kalarel about seeking slaves for purchase. Valthrun believes that the Bloodreavers must assuredly be responsible for the missing townsfolk, and that if it’s the Thunder Peaks they are hiding in, he will seek information on the mountain range from his tower and present it to the party in the morning. Aces, Krushi, Mentathenis and Megilwath head to Wrafton’s inn and tavern to join in the festivities. Athena is pulled back to the temple by Sister Linora.

Wrafton’s is full of happy and drunk townsfolk eager to thank the party for their destruction of the old keep. A young and exceedingly beautiful elven woman plays music on her lute and sings, entertaining the party in celebration of the heroes. Mentathenis and Megilwath are quick to notice her and Gil turns to a man sitting at the bar to ask her name, in which he replies she is only known as the “Maven of Strings.”

The party decides to take an extended rest within the bowels of the keep, during which the meditating Megilwath experiences an odd vision. It consists of a beautiful drow female, alone in the dark, with sadness in her eyes and another, older brooding drow female sitting upon a wicked throne, who’s mouth stretches impossibly wide and releases a swarm of spiders which come at Megilwath and snap him out of his meditation. After he rouses the rest of his companions, they decide to follow Keegan into the huge cave. Droggle and Splug decide to return to Winterhaven via the chains to get more ale.

The large cave goes on for around a hundred yards, ever so gradually sloping upwards. The cave comes to an abrupt stop with a single, smaller side passage leading off to the left. The passage looks to be dug out by creatures of some sort, and sure enough they encounter another nesting ground of the reptilian, insect-like Kruthiks. After defeting these, the party finds a small pit which appears to contain the Kruthik’s food stash, a few rotting Hobgoblins and a dead Human Sorcerer. Among their belongings they discover a Staff of Storms +1.

The party pushes through to take the Kruthik’s eggs, which Mentathenis chills to keep fresh. At the end of the Kruthik’s lair a small hole in one wall reveals how they enter and exit the keep proper, Aces gives the wall a charge with her mace and the hole becomes large enough for everyone to move through. It drops them into the hallways just before the statue trap room where Megilwath almost drowned.

Again they spot the lingering and fading ghost of Sir Keegan, and follow him back to the door that is boarded up with the word “closed” scrawled across it. They bust through the door and explore the area beyond. It is remarkably clean compared to the rest of the keep, not a speck of dust is to be found. They find a couple sarcophagi containing two nasty Corruption Corpses and are ambushed from behind by a Gelatinous Cube. Once victorious over the undead and ooze, they continue to a small room that contains a chest.

Once inside the room, the skeletal Sir Keegan, and his spectral wife and children emerge from the walls. Keegan thanks the party for finally putting an end to the keep’s corruption and sealing Shadraxil back into the Shadowfell. The young girl ghost rummages through the chest and hands a Safewing Amulet to the heroes in thanks. Sir Keegan and his family, begin to fade away and he warns the party that they should leave quickly. As soon as Keegan is gone, the Keep begins to rumble and cracks begin to form along the walls and ceiling. Aces empties the chest into her bag of holding and the group makes a run for it.

On their way out, almost to the stairs leading to the first level of the keep, the party encounters some Hobgoblins who are also attempting to flee the area. The party thinks it best to attack them, and a fight among the falling rubble and cracking floors ensues. Many of the Hobgoblins flee in sheer terror of the crumbling keep and the intimidation of the heroes.

Eventually all the Hobgoblins have run up to the first level and after rescuing Athena and Krushi from a pit that opened up, the party follows.

Aces, Megilwath, Krushi, Athena and Mentathenis make their way out of the keep and into the warm afternoon sunlight. After reaching a safe distance, they turn to watch the entire keep fall in on itself and sink into a crater.

After defeating the denizens within the cathedral, they scout out the rest of the room to be sure it’s clear. The dark ripples continue to twist the dimensions around them. They notice ghostly figures, a woman and two laughing children. They locate a pit in the center of the cathedral floor that appears to be funneling blood into it as part of a ritual. 4 chains dangle into the darkness from the top. Megilwath climbs down first to see what he can find, then returns to the party to inform them of what he saw, and they all climb down together.

Within the lower level of the cathedral lies a huge portal rippling like oil with something straining to be released into the world. There is a large statue of the Dark Goddess Shar across from the portal. They encounter Kalarel who is still in the midst of opening the gateway, a Deathlock Wight, two Skeleton Warriors and a host of Skeletal Minions. Athena, Krushi and Mentathenis manage to disrupt the ritual before the portal can open and the portal implodes on itself, revealing a large cave behind. Shadraxil roars from across the Shadowfell.

The five companions then turn their efforts towards bringing down the Wight and Kalarel. The battle does not go smoothly for them, but they manage to destroy the wight despite their serious injuries.

When things start to really heat up for the party, Droggle and Splug fall into the blood pool having found their way to the others, they join in the fight. Even Sir Keegan enters the fray to help best Kalarel, though he is terribly weakened and even with the mighty Aecris Blade returned to his hand by Mentathenis, his strikes fail him. Finally, after a long and arduous battle Kalarel and his death cult are slain. The party finds a Horned Helm, and Magic Dagger +2 and a fine Elven Cloak.

Keegan notices the ghostly figures and begins to follow them up into the large cave opening.

Athena, Mentathenis and Droggle approach the graveyard as rain begins to pour. Droggle begins to get grumpy and complains about being hungry. He refuses to go forward without a warm meal and a mug of ale, and returns to Winterhaven to wait outside the gates. As Athena and Mentathenis move through the graveyards gates, they can see a strange blue glow emanating from the ground near the middle of the cemetery. Suddenly undead burst from their graves all around them and two Grave Hounds emerge from a large mausoleum, all seemingly being led by the dark haired elf from the tavern in town.

Finally arriving at the outskirts of Winterhaven, Megilwath Laress and his two friends, Krushi Thymebundle and Aces see the graveyard and the commotion within. They join with Mentathenis and Athena and help to best the undead and kill Ninaran the elf before she can escape. Upon her belongings they discover a note from Kalarel written in blood. It states that the password to access the second level of the keep is “From the ground, some magic was found.”

The 5 companions make their way back to the keep and towards the ethereal door. Along the way they reinvestigate the secret door they ran across prior but could not open. Megilwath is able to pick the mechanism and get them through. Inside they find some zombies which they destroy fairly quickly and a suit of armor that talks to them and asks of them a riddle. Upon solving the riddle, the suit of armor lights up and falls to the ground. They take the Black Iron Scale Armor +1.

Down to the second level of the keep they go. They encounter a score of Hobgoblins and a large Deathjump Spider in the first area, but are able to fend off their attacks and end them.

When the party is catching their breath, Megilwath notices something strange out of the corner of his eye. The Deathjump Spider is still moving slightly. It’s eyes look about and focus in on the drow. They begin to burn a fiery red and it attempts to stand and move towards him. It’s so badly mutilated that it can’t get far and collapses back to the ground. A gurgling scream emits from its throat and sounds vaguely like a language.

After wondering what just happened, the party continues on past a door that is boarded up and with the word “closed” written across it. They enter a room with statues and Megilwath manages to get caught in a whirlpool trap by four cherub statues. His friends manage to get him out before he drowns and they enter a room with many zombies, a ghoul and a small clay scout. The five companions make quick work of them and move through two large double doors into an expansive room filled with bluish glowing light.

Inside the cathedral area they encounter a bunch of Vampire Spawn, a Dark Creeper, three Berzerk Shar worshippers and an Underpriest of Shar.

Down they go into the ancient keep. And no sooner do they fall under attack by the Goblin residency, does Droggle fall into a pit trap filled with an orgy of rats. Athena manages to pull Droggle out while Mentathenis fends off the Goblins. During the fight Shalimar lends very little aid to the companions, and as soon as the Goblins have been felled, he turns his dagger on Athena, nearly taking her life. Droggle and Mentathenis immediately move to her aid and manage to subdue the dastardly rogue. Before he dies, he reveals his alliance with the Dark Priest Kalarel, and tells them that any attempt to stop the cult are folly.

The three continue on, and learn that goblins are abound in the keep, one of which is particularly overweight, and named Balgaron the Fat. Upon entering what appears to be a prison and torture room, they find a small Goblin by the name of Splug in one of the cells. He begs the group to free him and he would be indebted. After some debate, Mentathenis decides the small green one may be of use, and opens the lock of Splug’s cell with a key they recovered from a particularly vicious Hobgoblin torturer.

The four make their way through the upper level of the bowels of the keep and run across rodents of unusual size, chitinous creatures of perhaps normal size, a blue slime in an underground lake. Once defeating the Slime, they discover a few partially dissolved items and a message cylinder. Contained within, is a map of the location of Shadowfell Keep, and a message to Kalarel from a Chief Krand of the Bloodreavers. It is an offer to purchase any humanoids he has captured during his time in the area. Krand and his operation are looking for Slave stock. After leaving the underground lake, the four enter into a maze-like crypt filled with screaming runes and zombies, which the goblin Splug, refuses to enter and sneaks away.

Upon entering a tomb filled with sarcophagi that continually spit out armies of Skeletons, Athena calls upon her goddess Selûne for help at an alter. Hearing her prayer the legions of Skeletons are incinerated in holy fire and the sarcophagi are reduced to ashes in her light. Searching the alters in the room, they find a secret compartment which when opened, three Moon Pendants materialize before their very eyes. Undoubtedly gifts of Selûne.

Beyond the Sarcophagi room, they find an antechamber with a single coffin within. When the group decides to attempt to pry it open, the lid explodes in dust and a human Skeleton girded in plate armor and wielding a finely crafted sword rises from the cloud. Instead of attacking the party he introduces himself as Sir Jarold Keegan and warns them that the rift within the keep must never be opened and proceeds to question them, one by one to see where their allegiances lie, and to make sure they are not part of the death cult. Upon passing the undead knight’s tests, he relinquishes Aecris Longsword +1 to the three, in hopes that it will aid them in destroying the cult.

When the party continues on, they find a faintly glowing barrier which appears to block the stairs leading down to the second level of the keep. Upon it, in words that phase in and out of existence like rolling smoke, reads “Shadow seeks Shadow…” which the three agree must be the beginning of a pass phrase to unlock the magical gate. Unable to continue on, Athena, Droggle and Mentathenis decide to return to Winterhaven for more answers, and hopes of uncovering the rest of the password. When the three approach the village gates they find them closed. Several figures stand with weapons drawn on the parapet above. One of the figures, Lord Padraig calls out to the party. “We are in peril! Several villagers have disappeared, and the dead in the cemetery have risen. We fear these creatures will emerge to assail the gates and drag us all away!”

Athena, Droggle and Mentathenis meet a woman named Calli Staul while having drinks in Salvana Wrafton’s Inn in Winterhaven. She begs them to locate her husband Douvan Staul, who has been missing for a few days having gone to investigate a Dragon Burial site south west of the Village. They also meet up with a cloaked and mysterious fellow, a human Rogue by the name of Shalimar, who seems eager to lend them a hand in their affairs in the area.

The four make for the grave site, where they discover a Spectral Apparition of Kalarel overseeing a team excavating the site. Douvan Staul is tied up in the crater. They are attacked by two drakes guarding the area and a fight erupts, ending in the deaths of Agrid the Gnome, a henchmen of Kalarel and his team, along with the defeat of the Apparition.

They find a Cormyr Mirror and release Douvan from his bonds. After a short trip back to town, they head for the old Keep. The sky begins to grow dark and a thunder storm breaks out over head. As they descend into darkness, they find Goblins have taken over the keep as home…

By her Clerical Order, Athena Nom, a Human Cleric of Selûne is asked to investigate rumors of a cult of darkness operating near the town of Winterhaven, possibly under the command of a Dark Priest Kalarel, which does not bode well for the village if true. She enlists her two friends Mentathenis Starfeon, the Eladrin Wizard, and Droggle Redaxe, the Dwarven Fighter for support and they begin their trek east from Baldur’s Gate for Winterhaven along the East Way.

After a few tenday, and nearing the outskirts of Winterhaven, they are besieged by a group of Kobolds. The three best their attackers and enter the village of Winterhaven to seek boarding and question the townsfolk. The people of Winterhaven are oddly standoffish when questioned about the area, among these is an elven woman named Ninaran who spends most of her nights at the local bar, drowning in alcohol, and the Lord of the village Padraig gives no easy information on the situation either. Upon finally receiving clues about a ruined Keep in the area, the Kobold nuisance, and a secret waterfall hideout, they set off the next day to rid the village of it’s rust scaled problem and delve deeper into the cult rumors.

Athena, Mentathenis, and Droggle make their way out of the village and are ambushed by another group of Kobolds seeking revenge for their fallen comrades. Things are looking grim until a Cougar jumps into the fray adding distraction just long enough to allow the three to finish off the rest of their enemies. After the battle, the Cougar disappears into the woods as quickly as it appeared. Searching the Kobolds hey find an obsidian figurine around one of their necks. It bears the mark of the Queen of Darkness, Shar.

Reaching the waterfall, they make quick work of the Kobold miners and guards outside and sneak behind the falling water to discover a lair. Inside, there are more Kobolds and a Goblin named Irontooth who seems to be running the show. The party narrowly manages to best the clan and takes down the Goblin leader to find in his belongings a message from Kalarel. The note hints at a spy buried within Winterhaven, and the dark priest rapidly nearing the completion of his evil plans…